SHERMAN, Texas - An Arizona woman and a Dallas man have been sentenced to federal prison in a fentanyl trafficking investigation that began after a 16-year-old girl died from an overdose in Flower Mound.
Pamela Esquivias, also known as "Azalea," 25, of Maricopa, Arizona, was sentenced Sept. 17 to 262 months, nearly 22 years, in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Aaron Jay Perez, 29, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to 120 months, or 10 years, in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III imposed both sentences in the Eastern District of Texas.
The federal investigation followed the August 2023 death of a 16-year-old girl in Flower Mound. According to information presented in court, the teenager died after taking what appeared to be an oxycodone pill but was actually a counterfeit tablet containing fentanyl.
Investigators tracing the source of the drugs eventually identified Esquivias as a major fentanyl supplier, according to federal prosecutors.
Authorities said Esquivias distributed hundreds of thousands of blue counterfeit M-30 pills containing fentanyl from Arizona to multiple states, including Texas.
The investigation also identified Perez as a distributor operating in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Prosecutors said Perez was responsible for trafficking fentanyl as well as large quantities of marijuana and cocaine.
Both defendants ultimately pleaded guilty to participating in the fentanyl distribution conspiracy.
Esquivias received a sentence of 21 years and 10 months, while Perez was sentenced to 10 years.
The case was investigated as part of a Homeland Security Task Force investigation in the Eastern District of Texas.
