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It happened in 2019 when a fentanyl-laced pill took the life of a young sophomore who came to buy a prescribed painkiller. Instead, the man gave fake pills containing fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid that could prove fatal with a dose as small as 2 milligrams.
Hours later, the young female customer, Alexandra Capelouto, 20, was found dead in her California home. In reality, she came to buy Percocet. The man was later identified as a drug dealer, Brandon McDowell who is now behind bars since 2022.
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What are fentanyl-laced pills?
Fentanyl-laced pills are claiming the lives of thousands of people in the US. The overdose of these synthetic opioids has been witnessed among minors in the last five years. According to the data released by the US Centers for Disease and Prevention, more than 74,000 people died of these pills only in the year 2023.
The drug dealer has been imprisoned for the past two years. However, now the young female customer’s parents have won an additional judgment against him for their daughter’s death. They claimed $5.8 million against the man.
The deceased Alexandra’s family
Alexandra’s father, Matt Capelouto said, “We’ve won the battle, not the war. We still have a long way to go in terms of holding drug dealers accountable for deaths”.
Alexandra’s father explained it was not enough for him and his wife as they had been struggling since death to deal with their child’s wrongful death. His wife is already suffering from stage four breast cancer, which has been hard on them as well.
The lawyer’s remarks
Capeloutos’ lawyer, Baruch Cohen said that to his knowledge, this is the first time that a drug dealer has been held responsible for taking the life of a civilian, particularly for selling synthetic opioids to minors.
The lawyer said, “Here’s the hope that this judgment will be the shot that’s heard around the world so to speak”. He was of the view any other drug dealer would think twice before selling fentanyl-laced pills to minors as he would know that not only years of imprisonment but millions of dollars would be at stake.
McDowell, now 25 years old, was charged with nine years of incarceration for an offense with a minimum of a 20-year sentence. His crime was linked to the injury or death of a person since he had the intent of carrying fentanyl-laced pill around in order to sell it. He was first pleaded guilty in 2022 in the federal court in California.
After hearing the final decision, Alexandra’s father remarked that the sentence wasn’t fair to him. He thought that a total of 20 years imprisonment should have served the drug dealer right and he would still make sure that “justice was served”.
McDowell, the drug dealer’s bankruptcy
Previously, McDowell had filed for bankruptcy whereas Capeloutos parents won a judgment of $5 million against him. The Superior Court of Riverside County stated that he definitely had the intent of selling harmful narcotics with “willful and malicious” aims which resulted in Alexandra’s death.
Judge Mark Houle imposed a fine of $5 million on McDowell with an additional interest that adds up to the total amount. The interest is charged for a year and a half, accounting for up to $5.8 million.
A couple of months later, Capeloutos filed another case to ensure that the drug dealer did not escape his debt even after his bankruptcy.
Their lawyer, Mr Cohen guaranteed that a bankruptcy case does not waive him off of the charges since bankruptcy is for honest people and not drug dealers like McDowell. The lawyer confirmed that they would “haunt him for the rest of his life”. He would not be able to make money, especially out of drugs, since they’d ruin what he earned in the future and would put a lien on whatever property he would buy.
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