KEY WEST — Four people convicted of distributing the powerful opiate Fentanyl in the Florida Keys will be sentenced on Jan. 18 at the federal courthouse in Miami.
Chief U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore scheduled the sentencing for Christy Dale Shell and Ken Balajadia, both of Georgia, as well as Marchand Taylor of Tennessee and David Lucio Pulido of Key West.
They pleaded guilty on Sept. 25 to conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in federal prison.
All four were convicted of distributing the powerful opiate Fentanyl in the Florida Keys.
All four face up to a lifetime of supervised release after prison and fines up to $1 million, but prosecutors will ask the judge for leniency at sentencing given their plea agreement.
Court records state that Shell met with a co-conspirator on June 1 and exchanged Fentanyl for cash, after which law enforcement recovered a bag containing $59,760 in cash.
Fentanyl is a painkiller 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine and is usually prescribed to treat severe pain for patients with terminal illnesses, but the drug has found its way to the street and is used among heroin addicts, leading to a spike in overdose deaths nationwide.
Information in the Crime Report is obtained from reports provided by area law enforcement agencies.
If you have information that could help solve a crime in the Florida Keys, call Crime Stoppers, 800-346-TIPS.