Luis Aguirre-Jerardo, Fentanyl Distribution Resulting in Death, Kentucky 2015

Luis Aguirre-Jerardo, a Lexington man, and Gill Dewayne Garrett, a Versailles man, have been charged with unlawfully distributing a controlled substance resulting in an overdose death.

According to a superseding federal indictment returned on November 5, 2015, Aguirre-Jerardo and Garrett are accused of illegally distributing fentanyl resulting in the death of a Woodford County woman. The indictment alleges that on or about July 1, 2015, the two men unlawfully distributed fentanyl to the victim, who died as a result of using the drug they supplied.

Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous opioid, having a potency 30-50 times greater than heroin. The indictment also alleges that Aguirre-Jerardo, Garrett, and two others, Allen P. White and Helaina Gracelyn Naehring, conspired to illegally distribute fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine in Woodford County from approximately June 2015 until October 2015.

The indictment is the result of an initiative launched by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky and the DEA. The initiative seeks to establish enhanced partnerships with participating state and local law enforcement agencies and county coroners, in order to aggressively investigate and prosecute illegal drug trafficking that results in an overdose.

Under federal law, defendants guilty of illegal drug trafficking resulting in death or serious injury are subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. If the defendant has a prior felony conviction for a drug offense, the mandatory sentence is life imprisonment.

“Cases such as this one are precisely why we launched our initiative to partner with state and local law enforcement agencies in order to bring to justice the drug dealers who are causing so much damage in our region,” said Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

Aguirre-Jerardo and Garrett are currently facing charges of unlawfully distributing a controlled substance resulting in an overdose death. The case is ongoing, and the outcome of the trial is yet to be determined.

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