A man who used Snapchat to sell fake oxycodone pills that actually contained fentanyl—leading to the death of a teenage girl as well as several other overdoses—faces 20 years in prison.

Jeremial Lee Leach, 20, of Evansville, Indiana, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to one count of Distribution of Fentanyl Resulting in Death, one count of distribution of fentanyl, and one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury.

Michael Gannon, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration-Indianapolis, and U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers for the Southern District of Indiana released an announcement on May 17 describing the ordeal and the consequences.

Leach sold fentanyl on Snapchat as “Mel,” resulting in at least three overdoses, one of which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old woman. “Mel” sold small blue pills marked with M 30 which is supposed to indicate they contain oxycodone hydrochloride—i.e. sold as Oxycontin, Reltebon, Zomestine, etc. Researchers call fake M 30 pills as “Dirty 30s,” and they’re highly dangerous—the slightest miscalculation of fentanyl can easily stop breathing.

“This young woman should be alive today. Mr. Leach pushed deadly poison over social media, ending a teenager’s life far too early, and risking many more,” said U.S. Attorney Myers. “Fentanyl traffickers commit their crimes with utter disregard for the lives of our friends and neighbors or the harm they cause to families in our community. I commend the outstanding work of the DEA, the Evansville Police Department, the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force, and our federal prosecutors to secure some measure of justice for the victims of this fentanyl dealer. The sentence imposed here should serve as a warning: these poisons kill—and selling them will earn you decades in federal prison.”

On June 25, 2022, in the late hours of the night, officers with the Evansville Police Department (EPD) responded to a call about an overdose from a residence on Wedeking Avenue. The first woman was lucky—and responders were able to revive her with naloxone. 

But within hours, at approximately 10:55 a.m. the next morning, EPD officers responded to the same residence for the overdose of another woman, who was only 19 years old, who subsequently died. The coroner found a fake oxycodone pill containing fentanyl when examining the body. The cause of both overdoses was determined to be fentanyl intoxication.

But “Mel” on Snapchat wasn’t done dealing his fake oxycodone pills.

On Aug. 20, 2022, EPD officers were dispatched to a restaurant located on Hirschland Road concerning an overdose. There, the officers found a woman hunched over, falling out of consciousness. But she was also lucky and was revived with naloxone and the woman regained consciousness. The woman told police that she thought she had simply taken a 30 mg tablet of oxycodone, which would not have caused an overdose. The woman’s companion, identified as “Leach,” supplied the pill at a residence on Shanklin Avenue. It was again traced to “Mel” after officers with the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force set up two more drug deals a few months later.

Police then executed a search warrant at Leach’s residence on Shanklin Avenue, where officers found 33 blue pills marked “30,” a digital scale, two 9mm pistols, and approximately $1,843 in cash.

“The sentence imposed on Mr. Leach is righteous and justified. Mr. Leach utilized social media platforms to advertise the sale of fentanyl and continued distributing the poisonous fentanyl even though it had already caused fatal and near fatal overdoses. The DEA would like to extend their deepest condolences to the Duncan family and all families who have lost a loved one to a fentanyl poising,” said DEA ASAC Gannon. “DEA remains committed to working hand in hand with our state, local and federal partners in order to keep our communities safe.  DEA commends the outstanding work by the Evansville Police Department, The Evansville-Vanderburgh County Drug Task Force and the United States Attorney’s Office.”

‘Hit Me Up’ for Weed on Snapchat

A much lesser “threat” on Snapchat is the sale of weed. A woman was busted in 2018 for setting up her weed business on Snapchat (which is admittedly much safer than selling fentanyl.)

The Beatrice Daily Sun reported in 2018 that Nebraska authorities were tipped off about a Snapchat video made by a woman named Madison D. Carlson. In the video, she held a large bag of cannabis, with a corresponding caption reading “Hit me up.”

Following the post, someone snitched, and authorities went to Carlson’s residence around 9:30 p.m. and immediately noticed two cars in a nearby alley with their lights on. In one vehicle, police found Carson with one female minor. According to police documents, the car reeked of weed. In the other, a male juvenile, who, upon further inspection, was carrying a concealed bag of marijuana in his waistband.

The two female accomplices told police they had just gotten rid of the pot until Carlson was removed from the vehicle, and eventually forked over an additional 32 grams and $80 in cash. Since minors were involved, Carlson also faced serious charges, even though cannabis is not capable of causing bodily injury in the same way that fentanyl is.

Plugs can be found on just about any social media platform, but especially when it comes to pills, buyer beware, as deadly counterfeit pills abound.

The post Fentanyl Dealer on Snapchat Who Caused Deadly Overdoses Gets 20 Years in Federal Prison first appeared on High Times.

The post Fentanyl Dealer on Snapchat Who Caused Deadly Overdoses Gets 20 Years in Federal Prison appeared first on Paradise Found.

One octogenarian German is down to his last straw.

The Associated Press reports that a court in the northern German town of Aurich “has given an 82-year-old man a ‘last warning’ to avoid jail after he was found guilty of drug dealing, despite 24 previous convictions.”

The defendant, identified only as a retired seaman, reportedly “said he wanted to improve his meagre €800 (£690) monthly pension by selling marijuana,” and “was handed a suspended sentence” by the court in Aurich.

The AP, citing German news agency dpa, reported “that prosecutors had asked the court to impose a prison term of 34 months in view of the man’s lengthy criminal record and an existing suspended sentence,” but judges “said they would make an exception and classify the latest crimes as ‘less serious offences’ because of the man’s particular circumstances and recent health problems.”

“Dpa quoted the presiding judge telling the defendant that it was his ‘very last warning,’” according to the Associated Press.

In recent years, Germany has emerged as a major focal point in Europe’s debate over cannabis legalization. 

Following the country’s election in 2021, when the center-left Social Democrats Party (SPD) received the most votes, the party formed a coalition with the Green Party and the Free Democrats (FDP) to establish a new government. Coalition leaders said immediately that they would pursue marijuana legalization.

“We’re introducing the controlled distribution of cannabis to adults for consumption in licensed stores,” a spokesperson for the coalition said at the time. “This will control the quality, prevent the transfer of contaminated substances and guarantee the protection of minors. We will evaluate the law after four years for social impact.”

Earlier this year, German leaders unveiled the scope of their legalization plans, which were decidedly narrower from their original vision.

In April, the government “presented scaled-back plans…to liberalize the country’s rules on cannabis, including by decriminalizing possession of limited amounts and allowing members of nonprofit ‘cannabis clubs’ to buy marijuana for recreational purposes,” the Associated Press reported at the time.

“In a second step, German officials also envision setting up regional test projects to sell cannabis through ‘commercial supply chains,’ Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said. But the proposal differs from one he presented in October, which foresaw allowing the sale of cannabis to adults across the country at licensed outlets,” the AP continued. “The German government revised the plan following talks with the European Union’s executive commission. Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir said EU law ‘sets us limits we must respect, but that I will also say we are pushing.’ Lauterbach had cautioned all along that the government would only proceed with its original plan if it got the green light from the EU.”

The proposed new cannabis law “foresees legalizing the possession of up to 25 grams (nearly 1 ounce) of cannabis for recreational purposes and allowing individuals to grow up to three plants,” according to the Associated Press, which noted that the measure would “let German residents 18 and older join nonprofit ‘cannabis clubs’ with a maximum 500 members each, which would be allowed to grow cannabis for members’ personal consumption.,” while individuals “would be allowed to buy up to 25 grams per day, or up to 50 grams per month — a figure that would be limited to 30 grams for adults under age 21.”

Lauterbach said in April that the reaction from the EU was “on the one hand, something that perhaps disappointed us, but on the other hand also an opportunity — the opportunity to build the basis for a European cannabis policy with a well-conducted study.”

The post 82-Year-Old German Pot Dealer Gets ‘Very Last Warning’ appeared first on High Times.

The post 82-Year-Old German Pot Dealer Gets ‘Very Last Warning’ appeared first on Paradise Found.