A major player in a drug ring that flooded North Texas schools with deadly fentanyl-laced pills has been slammed with a 20-year prison stretch, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton declared Wednesday, Luis Eduardo Navarrete, aged 22 was indicted after a string of tragic juvenile overdoses that left four dead, the U.S. Department of Justice reported.
Ignoring the lethal consequences of his actions, Navarrete distributed fentanyl pills made to mimic oxycodone to juvenile dealers, who in turn pushed the poison on unsuspecting students at several schools including R.L. Turner High School, Dewitt Perry Middle School, and Dan Long Middle School he pleaded guilty last November after his indictment for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance to persons under 21, even though children were overdosing and dying around him he continued to distribute poisonous pills.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Navarrete's indifference to the fatal impact on the children and the grief of their families was "chilling," and Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chavez of DEA Dallas highlighted the significance of the sentencing in combating the illicit fentanyl crisis, "We cannot bring back the lives lost and undo so much tragedy amongst the affected families, we are proud that justice has been served and remained committed to fighting illicit fentanyl trafficking in North Texas," Chavez said, as per the U.S. Department of Justice.
Evidence and testimony at the hearing revealed Navarrete's drug network's connections extending to the Sinaloa Cartel; the DEA and local police made around 40 adult and juvenile arrests seizing over 1.2 million fentanyl pills. After being informed of the fatalities, Navarrete continued dealing until law enforcement took him down. The source of his supply, Jason Xavier Villanueva, previously received a 15-year sentence, and Navarrete's runners, Rafael Soliz Jr. and Robert Gaitan, got 15 and five years, respectively.
During Navarrete's sentencing, the heartbroken mother of one victim testified about the devastating loss of her son, "He was the soul of our home," she shared in Spanish, urging the court to recognize the destruction wrought by such drug dealers, “I would like for everyone who’s present to know that these people who sell fentanyl, they destroy families…. On behalf of all those children who have passed away due to fentanyl, this has to stop,” her words echoed the sentiments of many who have lost loved ones to the opioid epidemic, the U.S. Department of Justice noted.
