The defendant sold fentanyl that was disguised as a pain pill
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lexington, Ky., man, who previously admitted to distributing fentanyl, that was disguised as a pain pill and caused the overdose death of a Woodford County woman, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell sentenced Gill Dewayne Garrett for distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death. Under federal law, anyone convicted of this offense faces a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life in prison, without parole. Garrett’s drug supplier and co-defendant, Luis Aguierre-Jerardo has entered into a binding plea agreement with the federal government that will result in a sentence of at least 28 years and no more than 33 years. He will be sentenced on December 8, 2016.
“Mr. Garrett sold the fentanyl, a deadly drug, that killed a woman who was seeking a pain pill," said Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “He exploited her addiction in order to make a few dollars without regard for the tragic consequences of his criminal behavior. His sentence is entirely appropriate and demonstrates the powerful impact of our Overdose Prosecution Initiative which brings together state, local and federal authorities to prosecute professional drug dealers who cause death and serious injury."
Garrett, pleaded guilty to the offense in April and admitted that, in July 2015, Aguirre-Jerardo had provided him with a counterfeit pain pill. The pill looked like Oxycodone, but contained fentanyl, and Garrett distributed it to Jolene Bowman knowing it was fentanyl. Bowman consumed the pill, and subsequently died of an overdose. Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is increasingly the cause of overdose deaths in Kentucky.
Versailles Police used Ms. Bowman’s cell phone to trace the source of the fentanyl pill to Garrett and later found that Aguirre-Jerardo had supplied Garrett with the fentanyl pill.
An autopsy confirmed that the cause of death was a drug overdose and toxicologists concluded that had it not been for the fentanyl in the pill, Bowman would not have died.
U.S. Attorney Harvey, Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, and James Fugate, Chief of Police, Versailles Police Department, jointly made the announcement.
The investigation was conducted by the Versailles Police and the DEA. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Bradbury prosecuted this case on behalf of the federal government.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
