10 June 22 - 28, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents prepared to handle these situations when they occur. Providing solid training is cru- cial to securing schools, she said, and so is identifying visitors as they enter the build- ing. “When we go in governmental buildings, or when we go to the airport, there’s so much in process to make sure that we’re feeling safe,” Walker said. “Why can’t we put those same type of fundings and same things in schools? Because these are our ba- bies that we’re talking about.” ▼ CRIME DEADLY PILL PEDDLER ‘MAIN SOURCE OF SUPPLY’ IN CARROLLTON JUVENILE FENTANYL OVERDOSES PLEADS GUILTY. BY KELLY DEARMORE T he man authorities call the “main source of supply” in the rash of fen- tanyl-related juvenile overdoses and deaths in Carrollton over the past year pleaded guilty to multiple crimes this month, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Jason Xavier Villanueva, 22, was arrested and indicted in February for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl to a person un- der 21 years of age. “Over and over, Mr. Villanueva put poi- son into the hands of teenagers who could not possibly comprehend the inherent risks. Not even the news of multiple teenage deaths deterred this defendant,” said U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton in a press state- ment. “The Justice Department will not rest until every person who peddled pills to these children, directly or indirectly, is be- hind bars. We have seen these kids’ faces – vibrant in life, heartrending in death – and we will not forget.” From September 2022 through early February 2023, 10 overdoses were reported for nine juveniles — three of them fatal. In- vestigators say that Villanueva supplied Luis Eduardo Navarrete, 21, and Magaly Mejia Cano, 29, with fentanyl pills marked M30. Those two then distributed the pills out of a Carrollton house near R.L. Turner High School to a network of teen and adult drug dealers. Navarrete and Cano were also arrested in February; Cano pleaded guilty to the charges against her in May. Stephen Paul Brinson, another person connected to the fentanyl that affected stu- dents ranging in age from 13 to 17 in the Car- rollton-Farmers Branch ISD, entered a guilty plea in May. Donovan Jude Andrews, 20, was arrested in March for selling fen- tanyl to students at R.L. Turner High School and Hebron High School. In May, Robert Alexander Gaitan, 20, and Rafael Soliz Jr., 22, were arrested and charged with conspir- acy to distribute a controlled substance in connection with the same case. The amount of fentanyl pills Villanueva put onto the streets is startling. The press release noted that, “In plea papers, Mr. Vil- lanueva admitted he distributed more than 200,000 fentanyl pills to north Texas cus- tomers over the course of five or six months, at a rate of about 40,000 pills per month.” These illicitly produced pills are made to resemble popular prescription opioids such as OxyContin and are often marketed on social media apps, sometimes for as lit- tle as $10 per pill. Although fentanyl is re- ported to be as much as 100 times more potent than morphine, it is cheap to pro- duce, which is why many drug dealers lace their pills with it. A 16-year-old Plano Se- nior High student, Sienna Vaughn, died in February after taking what her mother said Sienna believed was a single Percocet. According to a report from NPR, there were more than 109,000 deaths from fen- tanyl overdoses in 2022. Texas saw the big- gest leap in deaths connected to fentanyl from the previous year. In March, and again in April, students at Carrollton schools had to be revived with doses of Narcan, an opioid overdose- reversing nasal spray, by school staff after suffering from suspected overdoses. In April, the Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD introduced a new fentanyl awareness Kelly Dearmore U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton announced the arrest of Jason Xavier Villanueva in February. Unfair Park from p8 We bring sophistication with a twist to the metaphysical and holistic markets with products, classes and services. We have locations in Dallas, Carrollton & Frisco. www.soultopia.guru psychic Hotline Now available: 888-415-6208 Visit us: 900 W Davis St, Dallas • 3414 Midcourt Rd #100, Carrollton 7004 Lebanon Rd, STE 106, Frisco, Texas 75034 Best of Dallas 2020 awarD wiNNer
