Two Seminole County men
accused of selling heroin and fentanyl are indicted on murder charges.
Seminole County prosecutors obtained murder indictments from a grand jury Tuesday against two men accused of selling fatal doses of a heroin and fentanyl combination.
Christopher Toro, 30, of Winter Springs and Nelson Larregui-Irizarry, 27, of Sanford are charged with first-degree felony murder by unlawful distribution of a controlled substance in separate cases. Toro is blamed for the Sept. 23 death of Alfonso Pagan, 32, of Winter Springs. Prosecutors say Larregui-Irizarry is at fault for the Oct. 18 death of Edward Mitschele Jr., 28, of Lake Mary.
State attorneys in Seminole County have led Florida in indicting dealers on murder charges even before a state law enacted last year made prosecuting such cases easier. Seminole prosecutors have secured eight firstdegree murder indictments since August 2016.
In October, a state law went into effect that specifically includes fentanyl in trafficking and murder statutes. If convicted, a dealer can face life in prison or the death penalty. But Seminole County prosecutor Dan Faggard, along with area law-enforcement officers, had already discovered a way to indict such cases before the law change. It was a circuitous process that included lengthy and scientific testimony from a medical examiner. The changed law simplifies the process, he said.
Florida, like much of the nation, is battling an opioid epidemic. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has reported that opioid overdoses more than doubled last year compared to 2016. More than 30 people died in Orange County last year.
In Orange County and Orlando, deputies and police were frustrated that fentanyl wasn’t prosecuted in the same way as drugs such as cocaine in state courts. For some cases, local law enforcement petitioned the U.S. Attorney’s Office to prosecute because the federal statute did specifically include fentanyl. Sheriff Jerry Demings and Police Chief John Mina, among others, petitioned for the law. The law drew criticism from defense lawyers and criminal-justice advocates, including Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project, who say the punishment is extreme.
State Attorney Phil Archer, whose jurisdiction includes Seminole County, has defended strong stances against dealers.
“These indictments are part of the continuing effort by my office and Seminole County law enforcement to arrest and prosecute criminal drug dealers whose illegal trade has resulted in the overdose deaths of so many people in our community,” he said in a written statement. “We want them to know that selling dangerous drugs carries the consequence of potentially spending the rest of their lives in jail.”
Toro and Larregui-Irizarry are being held without bond in the Seminole County Jail while they await trial.