Man facing prison time for selling Pasco teen fatal dose of fentanyl
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Prosecutors are recommending a 3-year sentence for a man selling fatal fentanyl pills.
- Court records link text messages and video to teen's fentanyl-related death.
- Tri-Cities prosecutors pursue more cases involving fatal fentanyl deliveries.
A 25-year-old man agreed to a three-year prison sentence in connection with delivering a fatal dose of fentanyl to a Pasco teen.
Luis F. Martinez, of Pasco, entered a “Barr” plea to controlled substance homicide in Franklin County Superior Court recently.
The plea means that he doesn’t admit that there is enough proof that he committed the crime but wanted to take advantage of the prosecutor’s offer.
Martinez allegedly sold three pills to a 17-year-old, who had been struggling with drug addiction, on July 20, 2019. The next morning, the teen was found dead in the bedroom of a Road 64 home, court documents said.
The teen was scheduled to go into rehab the next day.
Martinez was early in what has been a growing trend of Tri-Cities prosecutors charging suspects in the Tri-Cities with delivering fatal doses of fentanyl.
The charge was fairly rare before the fentanyl epidemic, according to Herald archives.
The Tri-Cities, like many communities nationwide, has struggled for several years with a continuing number of deadly overdoses.
The synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than morphine and hundreds of times stronger than street-level heroin, federal officials have said.
Franklin County prosecutors filed two cases of controlled substances homicide in 2024, and Benton County prosecutors charged one man earlier this year.
Martinez doesn’t have any previous felony history, court documents said. The sentencing range was four years and three months to five years and eight months.
Prosecutors agreed to ask for a sentence of three years in prison, which is less than the range. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 4.
He has been out of custody for most of the last five years without any problems, according to court documents.
A Fatal Dose
The teen, who is referred to as J.R.L. in court documents, struggled with an ongoing opioid addiction and depression, court documents said. While he had stolen medications and money previously, he planned to start a rehab program on July 22.
Family members told investigators that Martinez supplied drugs to the teen.
Police found a series of text messages between J.R.L. and Martinez between July 13 and July 20 that discussed picking up drugs, court documents said.
Martinez was 18 at the time.
J.R.L. stopped by a Chapel Hill Boulevard home to pick up three pills.
A video from about 12:40 p.m. on July 20 showed the teen walking into his house from the garage. He can be heard saying that after “one long morning of trying to get these perks (slang for pain pills) ... I finally got them,” court documents said.
His mother found him unresponsive about 7:50 a.m. on July 21. She called 911. When Pasco firefighters arrived, he was declared dead.
Blood tests showed that J.R.L. had fentanyl in his system, which contributed to his death.