18-year-old fentanyl dealer connected to at least 14 juvenile overdoses pleads guilty
What parents should know about fentanyl dangers
The dangers of the powerful drug fentanyl hit home this week with news of a string of student overdoses in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton. Three students died and six others were hospitalized over a span of just a few months. Keith Brown, the deputy director of the Texas and Oklahoma High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area and a retired DEA executive, says all parents, students, and educators need to know just how potent fentanyl really is. Just one pill can kill.
CARROLLTON, Texas - An 18-year-old fentanyl dealer in North Texas, known as J-Money, has pleaded guilty to a federal drug crime.
Julio Gonzales Jr. pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl.
Gonzales admitted to receiving and selling 120,000 counterfeit M30 pills containing fentanyl to other dealers and customers.
Gonzales sold "K Packs" consisting of 1,000 pills, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
He is believed to be the top supplier of fentanyl in a series of juvenile overdoses in Carrollton.
At least 14 juveniles overdoses, including 4 who died.
A 16-year-old dealer who gave a 14-year-old girl pills in a deadly overdose in Dec. 2022 allegedly identified Gonzales as his supplier.
2 Carrollton adults led fentanyl ring that led to deaths, hospitalizations of students, feds say
Federal authorities believe two adults are behind a fentanyl ring in Carrollton that led to three students' deaths and several more juvenile hospitalizations.
Texts between the child and co-defendant Luis Eduardo Navarrete, one of the first dealers charged in the scheme called "J-Money" their source.
A DEA search of Gonzales' home found thousands of fentanyl-laced pills, cocaine, guns and large amounts of cash.
Gonzales is the eighth defendant charged in the juvenile overdose investigation to plead guilty.
He faces up to 40 years in prison.