SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A new task force aimed at prosecuting fentanyl dealers so families can have justice is starting up in the Sacramento region.
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is partnering up with law enforcement agencies and district attorneys to make it happen.
It’s a special enforcement group specifically looking at fentanyl overdose deaths. The idea first started in Fresno County where they’ve seen success and are now bringing it to Sacramento.
For father Jeff Davies, he says it’s a step in the right direction after losing his daughter to fentanyl poisoning in 2021.
“She ingested one half of one pill that she thought was Percocet or Oxycontin and never woke up the next morning,” said Davies.
They later found out from the coroner it was fentanyl.
“The Orange County Sheriff’s Department did all the investigation, but there was no teeth in the law at the time for them to pursue the dealer,” said Davies. “The DEA took it over and they were able to bring it all the way to an indictment of my daughters dealer and we were able to bring him to court and prosecute him and earlies this year he got 15 years in prison."
A new task force in Sacramento will help do the same, their goal is to assist local law enforcement agencies with overdose investigations to lead to more convictions.
Brian Clark is the special agent in charge of the new Sacramento region DEA task force.
“I’m a father of four. Fentanyl scares me to death… we can help families and investigate this and take people to justice that have pumped poison on the street that have killed our people,” said Clark.
Clark says the Sacramento task force will be modeled after Fresno’s Overdose Resolution Team which has seen success.
“Overdose deaths throughout that region have decreased,” said Clark.
The task force consists of about 16 people from the DEA, homeland security and local law enforcement. They will be trained on the key parts of investigating overdose deaths.
If there is enough evidence, the task force will assist local law enforcement into taking the case to the U.S Attorney’s office for prosecution.
“We can do these overdose investigations from the federal side — from the state side they have been doing these types of investigations. They have been searching whether to do potential murder charges. There have been only a handful that have been tried because state law is very specific when it comes to the intent side of murder and manslaughter. That’s one good thing with the federal law, it’s drug distribution leading to death,” said Clark.
The charge is distribution not homicide or murder. However, if convicted of distribution it can come with a 20 year sentence. The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office says they have a deputy with the new task force but no cases yet.
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