Woman Sentenced To Federal Prison In Fentanyl Death Of 13-Month-Old Santa Rosa Infant
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A 29-year-old Santa Rosa woman will be spending more than six years in federal prison for providing fentanyl through an illegal distribution operation in San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood that led to the deaths of 29-year-old Patrick O'Neill and his son Liam.
Leanna Zamora was sentenced Wednesday to 77 months in prison for distribution of fentanyl and her role in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy, according to U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent In Charge Wade R. Shannon.
According to her plea and documents submitted to the court, Zamora conspired with Santa Rosa residents Lindsay Williams, 32, and Shane Cratty, 26, to supply fentanyl to O'Neill.
Williams and Cratty were convicted in connection with the fentanyl distribution conspiracy. Williams has been sentenced to a term of 90 months in prison. Cratty was sentenced to 96 months.
According to the complaint, Cratty drove Williams to meet with Zamora. Zamora sold the fentanyl to Williams, and Williams gave it to Cratty. Cratty then delivered it to the baby's father.
On Sept. 14, 2019, the toddler's mother discovered O'Neill and the her child unresponsive when she came to check on them at a western Santa Rosa house after O'Neill failed to drop off Liam with her sister.
When officers arrived at the house in the 200 block of Darek Drive, they found O'Neill and the baby lying next to each other on the floor of a back bedroom. Despite lifesaving efforts by medical personnel, the baby was pronounced dead at the scene.
O'Neill died two days later in a Santa Rosa hospital without regaining consciousness. Police said they found items in the home "consistent with narcotic use."
Santa Rosa police arrested Williams and Zamora on Sept. 18, 2019 on local charges related to the deaths.
At the time of their arrest, former U.S. Attorney David Anderson called the deaths a tragic offshoot of an "open-air drug market" in San Francisco's troubled San Francisco crime-ridden Tenderloin neighborhood.
"The drugs in this case originated in the Tenderloin," Anderson said. "I have grave concerns about the existence of an open-air drug market in a wonderful city like San Francisco. When we tolerate this open-air drug market in the heart of our city, the harms that it creates are not contained to the neighborhood where this drug market exists."
On December 12, 2019, a federal grand jury handed down an indictment charging Zamora, Williams, and Cratty each with one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyand distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury and death. Zamora had pleaded guilty to both charges.
