North Texas fentanyl dealer sentenced to 12 years in prison
FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) – A fentanyl dealer linked to the death of a 16-year-old has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Eric Aden Herrera, 20, admitted that he knowingly distributed counterfeit Percocet pills laced with fentanyl to the victim. He has been charged with distribution of controlled substances to a person under 21.
The sales were made via Snapchat. Herrera met the victim outside of his girlfriend's house to make the exchange, according to U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
After the victim purchased the pills, he took two of them, fatally overdosing.
The victim was found by a friend, unresponsive, in bed. According to an autopsy, he died of acute fentanyl toxicity.
"Dealing and purchasing pills on the streets, regardless of what they 'might' look like, must stop," said Eduardo A. Chávez, special agent in charge of DEA Fort Worth. "Illicit fentanyl has made its way into every one of our neighborhoods and you cannot take a chance. The consequences are real. While we cannot heal the damage already done to the victim's family, we can continue to hold those like Mr. Herrera, and all others, accountable for the devastation selling drugs cause."
Herrera told police that after he got the pills from his dealer, he considered splitting one with his girlfriend, but decided not to because he "didn't know about how they were made" and "was too scared to take them himself."
"Fentanyl, which is often hidden inside more innocuous-looking counterfeit pills, can snuff out a life in an instant," Simonton said. "This defendant claimed he was too afraid to try these pills himself, yet he was willing to sell them to an unsuspecting teenager. We must ensure our teens understand that drug dealers will resort to unscrupulous behavior in order to make a buck, and that unless prescribed by a doctor, no pill is safe. The Justice Department will not rest until fentanyl is no longer being sold on our streets."