LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A Los Angeles County man was sentenced Tuesday to 20 years in prison for distributing fentanyl to a victim who suffered a fatal overdose of the powerful synthetic opioid at a Long Beach drug treatment facility in late 2021.
Juan Carlos Gutierrez, 34, of Montebello was found guilty in Los Angeles federal court last year of one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Gutierrez’s co-defendant, Jayleen Feusier, 37, of South Gate pleaded guilty to one federal count of distribution of fentanyl and was sentenced in August 2024 to eight years and four months behind bars.
Evidence presented at the eight-day trial showed that Gutierrez on Dec. 9, 2021, distributed fentanyl to Feusier. Previously that night, Feusier, in exchange for $60, agreed to get fentanyl for the victim, a 34-year-old man who was residing at a Long Beach drug treatment facility, federal prosecutors said.
Later that night, Feusier broke off a gram of the fentanyl that Gutierrez provided to her, packaged it in a small plastic baggie, and placed the baggie, a lighter and drug paraphernalia into a small box, evidence showed.
She then placed the small box into a bag with a black T-shirt to mask the contents, ordered an Uber delivery service and placed the item on the backseat of the vehicle to be delivered to the victim at the rehabilitation facility, evidence showed. Feusier then sent a link to the victim so he could track the Uber as it traveled to him, federal prosecutors said.
At around 11 p.m. that night, the victim jumped a fence and retrieved the package from the Uber vehicle then went back inside the drug treatment facility, evidence showed. About six hours later, the victim’s body was discovered inside the facility’s living room. The jury was told that drug paraphernalia sent by Feusier was discovered near the victim.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that the death was caused by a fentanyl overdose.
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