Cruz Noel Quintero, a 43-year-old man from Long Beach, was sentenced in June of 2023 after being convicted of selling fentanyl to two of his coworkers, one of whom died of an overdose.

Fentanyl, Firearms, and Ferocious Sentencing

In February of 2018, Quintero, an EMT at a Long Beach hospital, began shipping cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs across the country and distributed them locally out of a residence in Long Beach. Then in May 2019, he sold what he claimed was cocaine to another hospital worker while parked in the hospital parking lot. The hospital worker and her partner sampled the white powder the next morning, unaware that it was fentanyl. They passed out, and one of the victims died from the overdose.

When law enforcement discovered that Quintero was the one who sold the fentanyl to the couple, they searched both of his Long Beach residences. They found over a dozen firearms and drug trafficking paraphernalia. During the trial, testimony was also made asserting that Quintero had shipped huge quantities of cocaine and pounds of methamphetamine to Minnesota drug traffickers. Apparently, the drug traffickers even complained about the poor quality of his product.

Quintero was sentenced to 292 months in prison for the fentanyl death, 120 months for firearms, 240 months for maintaining a drug premises, and 60 months for possessing firearms to further a drug-trafficking crime. The fentanyl death, firearms, and drug premises sentences will be run concurrently - at the same time -  but the possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking will be done once the 292 months is over. That is a total of 325 months - or 29 years in federal prison.

A Skilled Criminal Defense Attorney Can Help

Attorney Vitaly Sigal of Sigal Law Group has years of experience and unmatched skill in helping defendants navigate such serious charges. Your future is on the line. Call 818-325-0579 today for a free consultation.