LOS ANGELES
A South Bay man, who in May 2020 distributed fentanyl-laced pills to a 15-year-old boy and mocked the victim online as he was dying of an overdose, was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha sentenced Alexander Declan Bell Wilson, 23, of Rolling Hills, officials stated.
The judge also ordered Wilson to pay $2,364 in restitution.
Upon his release from prison, Judge Aenlle-Rocha also ordered Wilson to be placed on supervised release for 12 years.
After a five-day trial, a jury on May 19 found Wilson guilty of one count of distribution of fentanyl, resulting in death. Wilson has been in federal custody since May 2021.
On the evening of May 14, 2020, Wilson agreed to distribute five Percocet pills to the victim. Evidence seized from the victim’s cellphone shows he believed the pills were authentic pharmaceutical pills that contained the opioid oxycodone.
At around 11:30 p.m. that night, the victim’s 13-year-old brother met Wilson outside the family’s house to pick up the five pills. Wilson then handed a plastic bag containing the pills to the victim’s brother through the window of Wilson’s vehicle.
The victim’s brother took the bag from Wilson, went back inside the house, and gave the pills to the victim. Shortly afterward, the victim posted a photograph of the pills on his Snapchat social media account and then ingested the pills.
From approximately 1:50 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. on May 15, 2020, Wilson and the victim argued on Snapchat about the proper way to consume the pills
Wilson had sold to the victim. During those chats, Wilson chastised the victim for chewing the pills and then shared screenshots of their conversation with his Snapchat followers.
On the morning of May 15, 2020, the victim’s grandmother found him dead in his bedroom. Expert testimony at the trial confirmed the victim’s death was solely due to fentanyl poisoning.
“After [the victim’s] death, [Wilson] showed no remorse for his crimes,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “To the contrary, he lied to police about his conduct, deleted incriminating evidence from his phone, and minimized his role in the offense. Indeed, [Wilson] blamed [the victim] for his own death, boasting that [the victim] ‘did that to himself.’”
The DEA’s Overdose Justice Task Force and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian V. Yanniello and Daniel H. Weiner of the General Crimes Section prosecuted this case.