A Man Was Jailed After Drugs Bound for New Jersey Killed a 15-month-old Child

Federal prosecutors have sentenced a guy who was running a drug mill from a New York apartment when a 15-month-old died after swallowing fentanyl inside the home.

Jhan Carlos Capellan Maldonado, 35, of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison on Wednesday, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. He previously pleaded guilty to trafficking heroin and fentanyl, admitting that the substances he distributed caused the toddler’s death.

He also pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of a fentanyl-containing combination and substance in a separate incident.

Capellan Maldonado was handling the company from an apartment in the Bronx with four other employees on December 27, 2018, when he died. The group was combining and packaging heroin and fentanyl to transfer it to New Jersey when the toddler consumed the opiate, according to federal authorities.

“His drug mill directly caused the death of this child,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger stated. “The sentence he received today will not bring the child back, but the offender is being held accountable for the tragic consequences of his role in trafficking this poison. The fentanyl pandemic has caused tremendous pain and suffering in our communities, including the death of the kid in this case.

The four people who were reportedly there at the time have been charged by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

Capellan Maldonado was arrested two months after the toddler died for running another drug mill from an apartment in the Bronx, with plans to transfer the drugs to New Jersey for distribution, according to prosecutors.

Six other Bronx residents who assisted him in running the mill pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 400 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl and were sentenced: Reimon Genao Rosario, 28; Dilson Vazquez Genao, 28; Eddie Urena Rodriguez, 39; Francisco Mercedes Gil, 36; Daury Contreras Ulerio, 39; and Jose Antonio Vazquez Pena, 51.

Capellan Maldonado will be subject to five years of parole supervision following his release.

Source: Man sentenced after drugs bound for N.J. killed a 15-month-old