AURORA | An Arapahoe County jury convicted Cesar Eduardo Mejia-Sanabria of felony drug charges this week in connection with the 2022 death of a Gateway High School student who fatally overdosed on fentanyl.
“Drug dealers do not care who they sell this poison to,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Gallo of the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. “This defendant was in the business of making money. We will continue to prosecute offenders who engage in this criminal enterprise.”
According to the release, in the early morning hours of Dec. 11, 2022, Aurora police found the 14-year-old victim dead at a home on South Naples Street.
An autopsy determined the boy died from fentanyl toxicity, and investigators who examined the boy’s cellphone discovered an exchange with a phone number registered to Mejia-Sanabria, 30, about buying fentanyl pills.
An undercover officer texted Mejia-Sanabria about buying pills, and Mejia-Sanabria agreed to meet the officer at a nearby store and sell them 100 pills for $350.
Mejia-Sanabria showed up at the store with a woman at the time when the transaction was scheduled to take place. After the undercover officer called off the sale, Mejia-Sanabria left and was pulled over by Aurora gang and narcotics officers.
He and a passenger were arrested for outstanding warrants. During a search of Mejia-Sanabria’s vehicle, officers found fentanyl pills, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.
Mejia-Sanabria was ultimately charged with felony child abuse causing death, seven drug-related felonies and two traffic infractions.
Jurors found him guilty Wednesday of two counts of possession of fentanyl with intent to sell or distribute and one count of conspiracy to sell or distribute fentanyl, according to court records, which described the case outcome generally, and DA’s office spokesman Eric Ross, who subsequently shared information about the verdicts.
Mejia-Sanabria faces up to 16 years’ imprisonment when he is sentenced April 1.
While jurors acquitted Mejia-Sanabria of child abuse and two of the drug charges, and the DA’s office dismissed another two drug charges as well as the traffic infractions, the office described the convictions as a blow against the drug trade.
“Instead of writing off this case as a tragic overdose, I commend the Aurora Police Department for their in-depth investigative work in identifying a drug dealer selling poison on our streets,” District Attorney John Kellner said in the release.
“In order to save other lives, it’s a priority for my staff and I to go after dealers who push this poison.”
Fault of those who willingly obtain and partake of the “poisons”.