A Cumberland County man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with a 2022 fatal fentanyl overdose and will serve 15 years in prison.

Michael Ralph Daignault, 64, entered the plea on August 4, 2026, in Cumberland County Criminal Court before Judge Gary McKenzie. He admitted to knowingly, intentionally or recklessly killing Christopher Ray Hale by unlawfully distributing fentanyl to him between July 23 and 24, 2022. The drug was the proximate cause of Hale’s death, according to the indictment.

A Cumberland County grand jury returned a true bill against Daignault on January 8, 2024, charging him with second-degree murder (a Class A felony), sale of a Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl), and delivery of a Schedule II controlled substance (fentanyl). Under the plea agreement, the two drug charges were dismissed (nolle prosequi). Daignault received a 15-year sentence to serve at 100 percent with the Tennessee Department of Correction and was credited with 922 days already served.

Daignault waived his right to a jury trial and appeal. Court records list him as a registered sex offender with prior convictions for rape dating to 1980 and 1981. He remains incarcerated.