James Dorion Rodriguez, Fentanyl Distribution Resulting in Death, California 2019

A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for selling fentanyl that resulted in a fatal overdose.

James Dorion Rodriguez, 29, of Van Nuys, was sentenced by United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney on December 2019 to 180 months in federal prison.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty in December 2019 to one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.

Less than one month after he had been convicted in a separate drug trafficking case, Rodriguez arranged to sell cocaine to the victim. Investigators believe that Rodriguez intended to sell cocaine to the victim, but accidentally gave him fentanyl in the March 18, 2018 transaction.

The victim then ingested the drug and drove away. Hours later, the victim was found dead in his car in a nearby parking lot in Sherman Oaks. Based on telephone records, the victim died within 20 minutes of snorting the fentanyl.

Rodriguez continued to deal in fentanyl and other opioids after the victim’s death. In September 2018, investigators executed a search warrant of Rodriguez’s car and found approximately 7 grams of powder fentanyl, a digital scale, multiple notebooks documenting drug dealing, and plastic baggies.

After his arrest by federal authorities later that month, Rodriguez confessed to dealing fentanyl and delivering drugs to the victim on the night of the victim’s death.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/san-fernando-valley-man-sentenced-15-years-federal-prison-selling-fentanyl-resulted