A woman who admitted to selling pills laced with fentanyl leading to the overdose deaths of several teenagers is headed to prison.
On Wednesday morning, Magaly Mejía Cano learned her fate nearly a year after she plead guilty on one count of distributing a controlled substance to a person under 21 years of age.
U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade gave the convicted fentanyl distributor 20 months in prison. However, Mejía Cano will be released later this year as she will get credit for the 13 months she has already spent behind bars.
Mejía Cano and her boyfriend, Luis Navarrete were arrested at their Carrollton home off Highland Drive in February 2023.
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Lilia Astudillo told NBC 5 she is disappointed with the judge's decision.
“It’s not enough time,” Astudillo said in Spanish.
Astudillo's son José Pérez was one of three Carrollton-Farmers Branch students fatally poisoned by fentanyl-laced pills. Nine other minors overdosed and survived. Investigators with the DEA Dallas Division Field Office determined the illicit were distributed from the Carrollton couple’s home located just around the corner from R.L. Turner High School.
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“Anytime there's a loss of life as a result to illicit fentanyl, you know, we take that very seriously,” Eduardo Chavez said. Chavez is the Drug Enforcement Administration's Special Agent in charge of the Dallas Field Division.
"While some prison sentences may be more or less than either (the) victims… would want or the family members of those individuals getting sentenced may want, for us, it's always a step in the right direction of just simply holding people responsible for their actions," Chavez said.
In court, Mejía Cano apologized to the families affected admitting her actions were selfish.
“She knew what she was doing to make a living. She wanted money,” Ruben Peña said.
Peña has become an advocate against the narcotic after, in an unrelated case, was directly impacted.
“Her name was Angelina Rogers. She was 21 years old. She died October 27th, 2020,” Peña said.
According to the family, Rogers thought she was taking OxyContin to manage pain from endometriosis. They’d later learn it was laced with a lethal dose of fentanyl.
“It's not an overdose. It’s a poisoning,” Peña said.
Wednesday’s outcome, Peña said, proves there is still more work to be done in the fight against fentanyl.
"20 months is not enough," Peña said. "They have to be held accountable. I mean, the sentence is way too low. Accountability needs to be there... We're going to live for (the victims). That's what we're trying to do, get the word out to help people understand what is going on."
In the courtroom, Mejía Cano's attorney, Kara Carreras, asked for her client to be assigned to federal prison in Fort Worth or Bryan.
Kinkeade said he agreed Federal Prison Camp, Bryan was a good fit and encouraged her to make use of the programs available.
PBC Bryan is a minimum-security women’s federal prison that houses non-violent female inmates.
Before walking out of the courtroom, Kinkeade shared a piece of advice to Mejía Cano.
"Pick your men better," Kinkeade said.
WHAT IS FENTANYL?
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl, which is equal to 10-15 grains of table salt, is considered a lethal dose.
Without laboratory testing, there is no way to know how much fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder. If you encounter fentanyl in any form, do not handle it and call 911 immediately.
Fentanyl remains the deadliest drug threat facing this country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 107,622 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, with 66% of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl.
Drug poisonings are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Fentanyl available in the United States is primarily supplied by two criminal drug networks, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
WHAT IS RAINBOW FENTANYL?
In August 2022 the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public advisory about the alarming emerging trend of colorful fentanyl available nationwide.
Brightly-colored fentanyl, dubbed "rainbow fentanyl" in the media, is being seized in multiple forms, including pills, powder, and blocks that resemble sidewalk chalk.
“Rainbow fentanyl—fentanyl pills and powder that come in a variety of bright colors, shapes, and sizes—is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “The men and women of the DEA are relentlessly working to stop the trafficking of rainbow fentanyl and defeat the Mexican drug cartels that are responsible for the vast majority of the fentanyl that is being trafficked in the United States.”
Despite claims that certain colors may be more potent than others, there is no indication through DEA’s laboratory testing that this is the case. The DEA said every color, shape, and size of fentanyl should be considered extremely dangerous.
