Woman sentenced after distributing fentanyl that led to Bellingham boys’ overdose death
A Mount Vernon woman was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in Whatcom and Skagit counties that led to two overdoses, including the death of a Bellingham 17-year-old in 2019.
Rosaliana Lopez-Rodriguez, 22, pleaded guilty to the charges last January in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
At the sentencing hearing Aug. 19, Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez urged the friends and family of the victim to spread the word about the dangers of fentanyl, according to a U.S. Depart of Justice news release, and to “think what you can do to keep your family and friends as safe as you possibly can.”
The victim’s sister told the court Thursday that she is still haunted by the memory of finding her brother’s body and the “blatant disregard for human life,” Lopez-Rodriguez had shown.
“That’s all his life was to her, a few bucks,” the mother said in court Thursday.
Lopez-Rodriguez and her alleged supplier, Jiovanni Alejandro Nunez, 21, were arrested, and on Dec. 4, 2019, they were charged with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute.
According to court records in the case, the Bellingham boy was found unresponsive on Nov. 9, 2019, and, despite emergency responders’ efforts to resuscitate him, he died. His cause of death was determined to be a fentanyl overdose.
Investigators found a whole and a partial pill near the victim, the release states, and the pills were designed to look like oxycodone 30-milligram pills, with an “M” and “30” stamped on them. But the pills were tainted with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is 50- to 100-times more potent than morphine, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
Similar pills had been linked to other overdoses and deaths in the Puget Sound region, according to the release, including a 17-year-old friend of the Bellingham victim, who nearly died after smoking one of the pills Nov. 1, 2019.
Lopez-Rodriguez knew of that near-fatal overdose when she sold the victim the pills eight days later, the release states.
“This defendant continued to sell deadly fentanyl pills to a teenager, even after learning that the teenager’s friend almost died from an overdose,” Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman said in court Thursday. “Overdose deaths in this country are at an all-time high from fentanyl. Those who sell it with such a casual disregard for human life need to face significant sanctions.”
As part of her plea agreement, Lopez-Rodriguez admitted to selling fentanyl pills to an undercover officer, according to the release. Lopez-Rodriguez stated that she received the pills from Nunez.
Law enforcement found 2½ fentanyl pills in Lopez-Rodriguez’s bedroom, according to the release, and at Nunez’ home they found a safe containing hundreds of fake oxycodone pills that matched the appearance of the fentanyl-laced pills linked to the Bellingham boy’s death.
Lopez-Rodriguez said that Nunez provided her with the pills that led to the boy’s death, documents state.
On June 29, Nunez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and is scheduled to be sentenced by Martinez on Oct. 1. He faces a prison term of between five and 40 years.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Whatcom County Drug and Gang Task Force, Bellingham Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.
