By Roberto Bustamante
Jun 28, 2024, 1:59 PM EDT
Two El Paso women have been sentenced for their role in the fentanyl poisoning death of a 19-year-old single mother.
According to court documents, Kathy Lee Nicole Bradford32, coordinated the sale of M-30 pills to a woman in El Paso in April 2022.
On behalf of Bradford, the co-defendant Patricia Tafoya40, delivered 10 counterfeit M-30 pills containing fentanyl to the buyer, who consumed some of the pills.
According to the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office, the victim died due to fentanyl toxicity.
Bradford admitted in March that he knew the pills contained fentanyl. and pleaded guilty to one count of distribution of a controlled substance causing death or serious bodily injury. She was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
Tafoya pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute. She was sentenced to 21 months in prison and ordered to enter a drug treatment program.
Sentences increase for fentanyl overdose
Convictions against people who cause fatal fentanyl overdoses have been on the rise in the United States.
Last March, a Bolivian drug trafficker accused of distributing fentanyl in New York and linked to a young man’s 2022 overdose from the drug was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison.
Roy EscobarThe 46-year-old was a “repeat” drug dealer who operated alongside his two adult sons, Pablo Escobar and Roy Escobar Jr., and who sold “thousands of deadly doses” of fentanyl and other drugs in the Big Apple and Long Island.
In another case, Vicente David Romerosentenced in November 2023 to 15 years in prison, became the first person convicted in California of murder for knowingly supplying fentanyl.
The 34-year-old man was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Kelsey King, which occurred on June 16, 2020 in Riverside County.
Keep reading:
– Most fentanyl traffickers are US citizens.
– A doctor and a clinic manager in Texas have been sentenced for illegally distributing opioids.