Laredo男子被判21年：分销芬太尼致人死亡，受害人以80美元购毒后在旅馆中毒身亡
美国司法部德州南区联邦检察官办公室宣布，德州 Laredo 居民 Rene Antonio Melendez 因共谋分销芬太尼致人死亡，被判处252个月（21年）联邦监禁，其后另加3年监督释放。Melendez 现年34岁，已于今年6月29日认罪，联邦地区法官 Diana Saldana 作出上述量刑。
2023年3月11日，执法人员接报赶到 Laredo 一家旅馆，一名男子已失去反应。其朋友告诉当局，该男子吸食了一种绰号「White China」的物质后停止呼吸。执法人员在旅馆房间内查获一小袋芬太尼，法医其后裁定受害人死于急性芬太尼中毒。
司法部表示，受害人生前经 Melendez 安排以80美元购买毒品，并按其指示前往 San Bernardo Avenue 一带地点交易；手机记录、证人访谈与历史基站数据证实，向受害人提供芬太尼的正是 Melendez。当天晚些时候，Melendez 还曾发短信向受害人询问毒品情况；不久后，受害人的朋友拨打911报告其已无呼吸。
Melendez 目前仍在押，等待转往联邦监狱局设施服刑。本案由联邦助理检察官 Leslie Ann Cortez 起诉，属国土安全特别工作组（Homeland Security Task Force）行动的一部分。
Laredo Man Sentenced to 21 Years in Fatal Fentanyl Case: Victim Died After $80 Hotel Drug Deal
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced that Rene Antonio Melendez, 34, of Laredo, has been sentenced to 252 months (21 years) in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl that resulted in the death of another person. Melendez pleaded guilty on June 29, and U.S. District Judge Diana Saldana imposed the sentence.
On March 11, 2023, law enforcement responded to a hotel in Laredo after receiving a report of an unresponsive man. The victim's friend told authorities the man had consumed a substance known as "White China" and stopped breathing. Authorities recovered a baggie containing fentanyl from the hotel room, and the medical examiner later determined the victim died from acute fentanyl toxicity.
According to the Justice Department, the victim had arranged to purchase $80 worth of drugs through Melendez, who directed him to a location off San Bernardo Avenue. Cellphone records, witness interviews and historical cell-site data established that Melendez was the individual who supplied the victim with the fentanyl. Later that day, Melendez sent the victim a text message asking about the drugs; shortly afterward, the victim's friend called 911 to report the victim was not breathing.
Melendez has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility. Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Ann Cortez prosecuted the case, which was investigated as part of the Homeland Security Task Force initiative.
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：德州 Laredo 市中心 Plaza Theater 一带街景（资料图）。Billy Hathorn 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，取自维基共享资源。Photo: Downtown Laredo, Texas, near the former Plaza Theater (file photo). Billy Hathorn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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