Fentanyl dealers can face death, life term

Opioid now in murder, trafficking statutes

Kristy Dyroff watched coroners wrap her son in a body bag and agonized over his deadly return to heroin.

“My son made a mistake. My son relapsed. And now he [is] gone,” she remembered thinking as she and her husband found Wesley Greer dead Aug. 19, 2015.

Except it wasn’t heroin that killed Greer, his mother later learned.

Greer had actually died in his Georgia home from a fentanyl overdose, a drug he bought from Orlando dealer Hugo Margenat-Castro.

“When I read his death certificate and it said ‘homicide,’ it changed everything in my mind,” said Dyroff, of Brunswick, Ga. “I had to make sure whoever did this had to be stopped.”

Two years later, Florida law enforcement now has a better chance to prosecute dealers who peddle fentanyl, thanks to a state law that went into effect Oct. 1 that allows the potent opioid to be included in trafficking and murder

statutes. It also means a dealer convicted of first degree murder for that offense would face life in prison or the death sentence.

Orange County deputies and Orlando police were frustrated fentanyl wasn’t prosecuted in the same way as drugs like cocaine in state courts. For some cases, like Greer’s, local law enforcement petitioned the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute because the federal statute did include fentanyl.

Though the state law opens the door for more prosecution, police and prosecutors will still face challenges putting together a solid case.

A medical examiner must be able to say with a high degree of certainty that the main cause of the death was the fentanyl. If the medical examiner can’t, because of other contributing factors, the case stops there. Law enforcement also has to prove who sold the fatal dose.

That usually requires a witness, who in most cases also bought the drug and overdosed but survived, said Orange County Capt. Carlos Espinosa, who was part of a push for the law.

The first fentanyl case in Central Florida in which a grand jury indicted a defendant on a murder charge was in March against Tamas Harris. Harris is charged with selling Sonny Priest of Altamonte Springs the fentanyl that killed him in December.

To build a case against Harris, deputies worked with Priest’s friend, Jason Bruce Baumgardner, who had previously purchased drugs from Harris. They had Baumgardner text Harris, saying he didn’t want the same stuff Harris sold to Priest. Harris told Baumgardner his supply was new.

On Wednesday, a judge will hear arguments from Harris’ lawyer on a motion to dismiss. Defense attorney Joseph Pate argues prosecutors can’t definitively prove Harris was the dealer who sold the fatal batch.

Greer’s death and the prosecution of his dealer, Hugo Margenat-Castro, serves as an example of a case without a witness.

Investigators traced Greer’s dealer through his electronic devices. They were able to see Greer purchased the drug through a website, drove to Orlando to pick up the drug from Margenat-Castro and died the same night when he returned home.

Margenat-Castro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and distributing fentanyl that caused the death of another. Last month, a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.

Whether a drug dealer should face the same punishment as someone who intentionally killed a person has attorneys divided.

Bob Wesley, public defender for Orange and Osceola counties, said he understands the outrage over fentanyl but doesn’t believe it is fair to prosecute dealers as murderers for the deaths of willing drug users.

“It’s almost like taking a ride on a motorcycle at 100 miles an hour and then bad stuff happens and you weren’t wearing a helmet,” Wesley said.

But dealers who know the stuff they’re selling is toxic should face the same stiff punishments as a killer who premeditated his crime, Seminole County prosecutor Dan Faggard said.

One defendant told investigators he knew how potent his supply was, Faggard said.

“They said, ‘Did you know you could kill someone when you sell them this poison?’ And he said, ‘Every time I sell someone something I know they could be dead but that’s on them,’” Faggard said, recalling a discussion with police.

“Is it extreme that a person should go to prison for the rest of their life … because they’ve sold drugs to another consenting adult? When you put it that way, does it sound extreme? Maybe,” Faggard said. “But is someone … who just says, ‘I’m gonna do it knowing that people are dying’?” That may be the kind of person that we don’t want living among us.”

Dyroff now reaches out to other mothers across the country whose children died of overdoses.

“So many parents, when their children die from an overdose, they feel shame,” Dyroff said.

Greer’s obituary painted an honest picture of his back-and-forth struggle with heroin.

“Wesley’s family wants you to know that he is not defined by his final poor choice,” his obituary reads. “They are all proud of him and of the selfless love that he generously gave to others.”

Dyroff is going after the website through which Greer purchased the fatal fentanyl. She filed a civil suit against the now defunct website, Experience Project, and the technology company that created it.

“I know my son would be proud of his mom,” Dyroff said. ktorralva@orlando sentinel.com, 407-420-5417 or Twitter: @KMTorralva

“So many parents, when their children die from an overdose, they feel shame.” Kristy Dyroff, whose son died of a fentanyl overdose