CARROLLTON, Texas — One of seven people arrested for fentanyl overdoses among teens in North Texas has pleaded guilty to his charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Carrollton Police Department announced the arrest of 22-year-old Jason Xavier Villanueva in February 2023.
The department said he was working with a juvenile dealer to supply fentanyl-laced pills to two other suspects: Luis Navarrete and Magaly Mejia Cano.
The DOJ announced on June 13 that Villanueva pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl to a person under 21 years of age.
Villanueva now faces up to 40 years in federal prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 4, 2023.
According to plea papers, Villanueva admitted to distribute over 200,000 fentanyl pills within 5-6 months. DOJ officials said he sold round blue tablets marked M-30 to a network of juvenile and adult dealers in Carrollton, who then sold those pills to friends, classmates and other customers.
The department said Villanueva often advertised on Instagram. After Navarrete and Cano's arrests, Villanueva allegedly posted this on social media: "Only thing that's gonna [sic] stop us is the feds."
Villanueva is one of seven people who are tied to at least 12 juvenile overdoses - three of them fatal - in Carrollton and Flower Mound, according to federal officials. The victims ages span from 13 to 17.
Officials said Villanueva, Navarrete and Cano are connected to about 10 of those overdoses, including the ones that killed the three teens. The overdoses are said to have come from pills that came from a drug house near R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton.
According to the DOJ, Cano and Stephen Paul Brinson pleaded guilty in May 2023. Navarrete and the four other defendants have been charged, but not yet convicted.