El Paso women, San Antonio man sentenced to federal prison in deadly fentanyl cases

Two El Paso women and a San Antonio man were sentenced to federal prison in unrelated cases where the people they sold fentanyl to overdosed on the deadly opioid drug, authorities said.

Kathy Lee Nicole Bradford, 32, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, while Patricia Tafoya, 40, received a year and nine months for dealing pills that contained fentanyl, U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas officials said.

The pills resulted in the death of a 19-year-old El Paso single mother. Both Bradford and Tafoya also are from El Paso.

In an unrelated case, Brennan Dane Short, 49, of San Antonio, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on a drug charge after he sent fentanyl-laced pills to a woman through the mail. The woman fatally overdosed on the pills at an El Paso hotel.

El Paso woman found dead after taking fentanyl mailed to her

Short sold counterfeit "M-30" pills March 21, 2023, to a woman in El Paso, officials said. He mailed a package containing the pills from a U.S. Postal Service location.

El Paso Police Department officers conducted a welfare check March 27 on the woman after she failed to show up for work, a federal complaint affidavit states. Co-workers told officers the woman was staying at a hotel on Edgemere Boulevard.

Officers found the woman dead inside a hotel room. The El Paso County Medical Examiner's Office found that the woman died of acute methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl toxicity. The medical examiner ruled that the woman "would not have died but for the fentanyl," officials said.

Officers found a small baggie containing blue and pink M-30 pills, pink powder on a folded white sheet of paper, and an iPhone belonging to the victim in the hotel room, the affidavit states. The pills and the pink powder tested positive for fentanyl.

The U.S. Postal Service delivered another package addressed to the victim to the same hotel on March 30, 2023. The hotel staff gave the package to the victim's family.

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The family opened the package and discovered a Mentos gum container inside, the affidavit states. They found a small baggie containing blue and pink pills marked with M-30 inside of the Mentos container.

The family reported it to El Paso officers, who notified the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Short was the name of the person who sent the package, the affidavit states. The package was sent from Rowlett, Texas. Security footage and photos of the man who sent the package from the U.S. Post Office matched Short's description, the affidavit states.

He was later questioned by law enforcement in San Antonio. Short admitted to DEA agents he sent the package. He added he previously had sent two other packages to the woman containing pills, the affidavit states.

Short told police the victim originally lived in San Antonio and was concerned she would not find a new drug dealer in El Paso, so he began sending her drugs in the mail, the affidavit states.

He said he sold the drugs for between $10 to $25 a pill, the affidavit states. The victim would pay him through CashApp.

More: El Paso man pleads guilty to attempting to sell 60,000 fentanyl pills to officer

Agents searched Short's home in San Antonio. They found "374.66 grams of suspected fentanyl pills, 42.88 grams of suspected cocaine, 599.05 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 74.98 of suspected psilocybin, 91.95 grams of unknown pills, 19.6 pounds of marijuana, three firearms, and an undetermined amount of United States currency," the affidavit states.

Short pleaded guilty April 4 to one count of distribution of a controlled substance causing death or serious bodily injury. He was sentenced June 27 to 11 years in federal prison. He also was sentenced to three years of supervised release after he serves his prison term.

No further information was released on the victim.

Single mother dies from fentanyl poisoning

Bradford coordinated the sale of 10 "M-30" pills containing fentanyl to a woman in El Paso in April 2022, a federal indictment states. Tafoya delivered the pills to the victim, officials said.

The victim, a 19-year-old single mother, consumed some of the pills and died. An investigation by the El Paso County Medical Examiner's Office revealed the victim died of acute fentanyl toxicity, officials said. No further information was released on the victim.

Bradford admitted in March that she knew the pills contained fentanyl, officials said. She pleaded guilty April 2 to one count of distribution of a controlled substance causing death or serious bodily injury. She was sentenced June 27 to 14 years in prison. She also was sentenced to five years of supervised release after she serves her prison term.

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Tafoya pleaded guilty April 2 to one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute. She was sentenced June 27 to one year and nine months in prison. She also was sentenced to three years of supervised release after she serves her prison sentence.

Bradford and Tafoya were also ordered to participate in a drug treatment program, court records show.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Federal prison sentences handed down in fentanyl death cases