Tag: fentanyl

Sheriff: Infant exposed to fentanyl, 2 arrested in Rowan County

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — An infant was rushed to the hospital after being exposed to fentanyl, according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.

“[The baby] was completely blue, and I said, ‘God there’s no hope for that baby,’” said one neighbor who saw the infant as she was being loaded into an ambulance.

Deputies responded to calls regarding the incident around 2:58 p.m. Saturday, July 20, at a home along Sides Road. An 11-month-old infant was found unconscious and not breathing, and was transported to an area medical center after NARCAN was administered at the scene.

“You don’t hear a lot of stories about infants being injected with NARCAN because NARCAN is a very strong, powerful drug itself,” said Rowan County Sheriff Travis Allen. “But when it’s a life or death situation, you don’t have anything to lose.”

A state trooper happened to be in the area when the call went out.

“If a guardian angel was going down the road, it was Trooper Eagle,” Sheriff Allen continued. “His CPR efforts before EMS and fire got there most likely saved the child.”

Following an initial investigation, deputies said that the mother, Jamie Robertson, retrieved a baby bottle from the father’s vehicle. She, her daughter, and James Danielson then fell asleep until Robertson awoke to the baby gasping for air and struggling to breathe.

“The mama she was just tore up,” the neighbor who did not want to be identified continued to say. “She really loved that baby, but she was hung up on drugs.”

Both Robertson and Danielson later admitted to investigators that they had injected fentanyl while in bed with the baby before falling asleep. Unsanitary conditions, along with various items of drug paraphernalia, drug residue, and uncapped syringes were found at the home.

“They both admitted to injecting each other and then passing out with the child in the bed with them, so it’s just severe neglect on their part,” said Sheriff Allen.

Danielson and Robertson have both been charged with felony neglect child abuse-serious bodily injury, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Both have been placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $100,000 secured bond. 

The infant has been released from the hospital into DSS custody and is expected to make a full recovery.

 NC advocates to join national rally on fentanyl crisis in U.S. 

Advocates who are fighting to keep fentanyl off the streets say more needs to be done. ABC11 (Raleigh) interviewed Patricia Drewes and Beth Moore for this story.

Fentvic Meetup #14 Hickory, Catawba County & Adjacent NC Counties

FENTANYL VICTIMS’ FAMILIES ORGANIZE TO FIGHT ILLICIT FENTANYL IN NC!

Fentvic Meetup #14 (open to the public)
Hickory, Catawba County & Adjacent NC Counties
Saturday, August 24, 2024, 2:00-4:00 pm

DateSaturday, August 24, 2024, 2:00-4:00 pm
LocationGrace Church Downtown Campus
26 2nd Street NW
Hickory 28601
Download Press Release PDF

Fentvic Meetup #13 Statesville, Iredell County & Adjacent NC Counties

FENTANYL VICTIMS’ FAMILIES ORGANIZE TO FIGHT ILLICIT FENTANYL IN NC!

Fentvic Meetup #13 (open to the public)
Statesville, Iredell County & Adjacent NC Counties
Saturday, July 27, 2024, 2:00-4:00 pm

DateSaturday, July 27, 2024, 2:00-4:00 pm
LocationBristol Road Community Center
1605 Bristol Road
Statesville, NC  28677
Download Press Release PDF

‘One final deadly dose:’ Fentanyl trafficker sentenced to 15 years after woman overdoses and dies

A Raleigh man is being sent to prison after officials from the U.S. Department of Justice say he assisted in distributing fentanyl to a 22-year-old woman who overdosed and died.

A Raleigh man is being sent to prison after officials from the U.S. Department of Justice say he assisted in distributing fentanyl to a 22-year-old woman who overdosed and died.

Treveris Montel Coward, also known as ‘Bad News,’ was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he pled guilty on October 4, 2022.

“Drug dealers are increasingly selling drugs laced with deadly fentanyl to make them stronger, more addictive, and more profitable. Now thousands of North Carolinians, including kids, are dying from overdoses,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley.

According to court documents, the victim had previously suffered an overdose, and Coward rendered aid to help her survive. However, despite her recent overdose, he provided her with more fentanyl the following day — causing her to overdose and die.

Easley called Coward “the worst kind of coward” for “rendering aid to an overdose victim only to sell her one final deadly dose.”

He says he hopes narcotics dealers will pay attention to the 15-year sentence.

“If your drugs kill, you will pay a heavy price,” he said.

The sentencing of Coward is an example of the collaborative effort of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Raleigh Police Department in holding those who distribute deadly substances into our community responsible.

“We are grateful for our partnership. Coward distributed fentanyl to a vulnerable 22-year-old individual who was susceptible to an overdose, which led to her tragic death,” said Raleigh Chief of Police Estella Patterson. “[We] will not yield in the fight against fentanyl.”

The Fentanyl Death Crisis in America

Medication for reversing overdose is life-saving—if used quickly and correctly.

KEY POINTS
  • Fentanyl is a major threat causing overdose deaths in the United States.
  • Young people are unknowingly taking fentanyl and dying.
  • Fentanyl smoking is contributing to overdose and speedballing deaths.
  • Government and private agencies are cracking down on illegal fentanyl, but it’s an uphill fight.

“It is the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced.” says Anne Milgram, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), referring to the threat of fentanyl in the United States. She should know.

We still have record deaths, and that’s after the DEA seized more than 80 million fentanyl-laced fake pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder so far in 2024 . The fentanyl seizures represent more than 157.6 million deadly doses; 70% of the counterfeit pills contain a lethal dose of fentanyl. Sometimes, the drug is smoked and as with intravenous injection, speeds access to the brain, further endangering users.

The best new prevention approach, the “One Pill Can Kill” initiative led by the DEA, is amplified by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) and other volunteers educating the public and seeking to prevent flooding of the U.S. with fentanyl and fentanyl-laced fake pills resembling Xanax, Oxycontin, Adderall, Vicodin and other popular prescription medications—but with a deadly twist. The counterfeit pills, more often than not, contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.

“CADCA and its 7,000 coalition members across the nation have worked tirelessly to address the issue of fentanyl-laced fake pills that are poisoning our nation’s youth by planning and implementing comprehensive, data-driven strategies, with multiple public and private partners to address community conditions causing this problem,” said CADCA’s president and CEO, retired Army general Barrye L. Price.

Continue reading “The Fentanyl Death Crisis in America”

Pill press molds used to produce illicit fentanyl targeted in legislation in Congress

by Lia Chien, NC Newsline
May 30, 2024

WASHINGTON – Bipartisan legislation pushed in both chambers of Congress aims to stop illegal fentanyl production and trafficking by focusing on the machinery used to manufacture pills.

The Criminalizing Abused Substance Templates, or CAST, Act would redefine the criminal penalty for producing counterfeit drugs using a pill press. Counterfeiting drugs is already illegal as outlined in the Controlled Substances Act  but no penalty is included in the law.

Under CAST, it would be illegal to possess a pill press mold with the intent to produce schedule I or II drugs, a crime punishable for up to 20 years.

CAST was introduced in the House by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, and David Kustoff, a Tennessee Republican, in October 2019 and it was reintroduced in March 2023.

The bill got a boost earlier this month when Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., introduced it in the upper chamber.

Overdoses and deaths

The bill particularly targets the production and distribution of opioids, especially fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid with an incredibly high potency, about 100 times more than morphine. As a result, it’s often mixed into other drugs to increase strength, sometimes in lethal doses.

Synthetic opioids are the main drivers of opioid overdoses. Between 2020 and 2021, deaths involving synthetic opioids like illegally made fentanyl rose by 55%, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Opioid-related and other drug poisoning deaths per 100,000 people are highest in West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Lawmakers attribute this rise in fentanyl-related deaths to the counterfeit market and drug trafficking.

“The overdose crisis and the rising scourge of fentanyl are undoubtedly made worse by the rise in use of illicit pill presses to manufacture counterfeit drugs,” Spanberger said in a statement about her legislation.

“By stepping up penalties for narcotics traffickers who use illicit pill presses to manufacture drugs, our bipartisan legislation would empower our law enforcement officers to crack down on these criminals and prevent dangerous substances — such as fentanyl — from being pressed into illicit pills and sold on our streets.”

Much of the illicit fentanyl sold in the U.S. contains at least a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl, 2 mg. A DEA study found that 42% of tested pills contained this amount or more, some as much as 5.1 mg.

Lawmakers said they want to ensure law enforcement officials have the necessary tools to stop the production and sale of these drugs.

“Strengthening penalties for the criminals creating these counterfeit drugs can help get them off the market,” said Hassan in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation will help ensure that law enforcement officials have the tools that they need to crack down on criminals making counterfeit drugs.”

According to the DEA, because lethal doses of fentanyl are often mixed in with other drugs, it can be “possible for someone to take a pill without knowing it contains fentanyl.” Cassidy said the CAST Act could prevent these deaths.

“No one should have to worry if their medicines are counterfeit or laced with fentanyl,” he said.

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. Follow NC Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.

Police charge man in fentanyl death

A Wilson man has been charged with felony death by distribution in a teenager’s death from fentanyl intoxication last year.

Albert Graham Green, 23, was initially arrested on Oct. 28 and charged with selling and delivering a Schedule II controlled substance in connection with the juvenile’s death, according to a release from Sgt. Eric McInerny, public information officer with the Wilson Police Department. 

Green was given a $100,000 secured bond and placed in the Wilson County Detention Center.

On Tuesday, Green was charged with felony death by distribution. 

Green turned himself in on Wednesday and was released on a $1 million unsecured bond. 

McInerny said officers with the Wilson Police Department were dispatched to 1705 Hillcrest Drive for a report of an unconscious person at 8:20 p.m. on Sept. 25.

Dispatchers told police that a 17-year-old boy was unresponsive and not breathing, McInerny said. Officers arrived on scene and Wilson County EMS pronounced the juvenile deceased.

Continue reading “Police charge man in fentanyl death”
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