Grei Mendez, a daycare operator in the Bronx, New York, has been sentenced to 45 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl out of her facility. This operation resulted in the death of one child and the poisoning of three others. The sentencing was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Matthew Podolsky.
Mendez pleaded guilty on October 29, 2024, and U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff imposed the sentence. "Grei Mendez operated a daycare out of a basement apartment in the Bronx in which large quantities of deadly fentanyl were mixed, packaged, and stored," said Acting U.S. Attorney Podolsky. He emphasized that Mendez endangered children as young as eight months old by hiding over 11 kilograms of fentanyl beneath their playroom floor tiles.
From June 2022 to September 2023, Mendez and others conspired to distribute narcotics from Divino Niño Daycare in the Bronx. On September 15, 2023, four children at the daycare were exposed to fentanyl; three were hospitalized and one child died.
In addition to her prison term, Mendez will serve five years of supervised release. Podolsky praised various law enforcement agencies for their work on this case, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York City Police Department (NYPD), and several other federal and state organizations.
The prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation aimed at dismantling significant drug traffickers and criminal organizations through collaborative efforts among multiple agencies.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maggie Lynaugh and Brandon C. Thompson along with Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl P. Miller from the Bronx County District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau.
