DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A 15-year-old girl is accused of providing an 18-year-old man fentanyl-laced pills that led to an overdose death in early December.
Maylia Julieanna Paige Sotelo of Green Bay has been charged in adult court with first-degree reckless homicide as party to a crime.
In a criminal complaint, prosecutors allege that on the morning of Dec. 3, the grandmother of the victim, identified only as J.D.M., called police when her grandson would not open the door.
First responders arrived to the home in De Pere. They knocked on the door of J.D.M.’s bedroom, but did not hear a response.
A paramedic forced the door open and noticed the 18-year-old was beyond help. Officers say the death seemed suspicious due to drug paraphernalia nearby.
An autopsy confirmed that he had died from a fentanyl overdose.
The victim’s grandparents told first responders he had a history with drugs, and had been to a rehab center in Minnesota earlier in the year, after he moved to Arizona for a short time before returning back to Wisconsin and living with his grandparents.
The victim’s mother met with a De Pere police officer to provide more evidence. She showed police conversations found on her son’s phone that they were able to trace to Sotelo, who sold him what she called a “bad batch” of Percocet.
Law enforcement then set up a “controlled buy” with Sotelo and arrested her.
Sotelo told law enforcement she started smoking marijuana and them became addicted to Percocet. She said she did not want to sell, but had to pay off a $500 debt to a person who gave her Percocet pills to sell.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sotelo was found to be in possession of 775 fentanyl pills, 60% of which were lethal doses.
If convicted, Sotelo faces up to 40 years in prison.
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