The husband of a former New York day care operator was sentenced to 45 years behind bars for his involvement in a fentanyl trafficking case that led to the death of a 22-month-old boy.
Felix Herrera Garcia learned his fate Thursday, which marked a little more than a year since Nicholas Dominici suffered a fatal opioid overdose after ingesting fentanyl at Divino Niño Day Care in the Bronx.
Three other children, who ranged in age from 8 months to 2 years old, were hospitalized in September 2023 after they “experienced the effects of poisoning from exposure to fentanyl” at the day care, according to Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“Felix Herrera Garcia operated a deadly fentanyl trafficking enterprise out of a Bronx day care, recklessly putting babies at risk of fentanyl exposure. Tragically, on Sept. 15, 2023, one child was killed and four others were poisoned at the day care by the defendant’s deadly drugs,” Williams said in a news release.
“This case demonstrates the deadly reach and scope of the fentanyl epidemic and the profound damage it inflicts on American lives, including the lives of the most vulnerable among us. This office and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to ensure that anyone who harms or risks the lives of children in connection with their deadly narcotics activities will be brought to justice,” Williams added.
Herrera Garcia, 35, who Williams said pleaded guilty to multiple charges in June, is one of several people charged in connection with the case.
Herrera Garcia’s wife, Grei Mendez, who authorities said operated the day care, was charged separately with murder, narcotics possession, and assault. Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who rented a room from Mendez, was also charged with murder, as well as federal narcotics offenses resulting in death.
Their cases are pending.
Federal prosecutors said Mendez tried to cover up the crimes as medics rushed to treat the children who were poisoned.
Mendez discovered the children were not waking up from nap time on a Friday afternoon, Williams previously said. She then made three calls, including two to her husband, before dialing 911, the criminal complaint alleges.
“Seconds before Mendez called 911, she called a co-conspirator,” Williams said. “Minutes later, a co-conspirator arrived at the day care.”
Renny Antonio Parra Paredes, meanwhile, was charged with narcotics distribution resulting in death. Federal prosecutors said Paredes, who also went by “El Gallo,” played an “instrumental role” in selling large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs in connection with the case.
According to court documents, Herrera Garcia and his co-conspirators hid at least 11 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin “in secret compartments, or traps, located underneath the floor tiles in the playroom” at the day care from October 2022 through September 2023.
The so-called hiding spots were located in places where “the children played, ate, and slept on a daily basis,” the documents noted.
Herrera Garcia, who fled the U.S. after the overdoses and was on the run in Mexico for about two weeks before he was arrested, admitted that he had stored fentanyl beneath the floor in the day care’s playroom, according to prosecutors.
New York Mayor Eric Adams previously said the three children who survived each received doses of Narcan, which he believes most likely saved their lives. He credited paramedics for their hard work and dedication.
“Those first responders identified the symptoms of what these children were experiencing,” the mayor said.
In addition to the 45-year prison term, Herrera Garcia was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Given a chance to speak before the sentence was announced, Herrera Garcia said he hoped the families of the children could one day forgive him. He said he and his child had played with the children. He also said he tried to save two of the children and did not flee until an ambulance arrived.
“At night, I have nightmares about what happened that day,” he said.
Judge Jed S. Rakoff rejected a request by prosecutors that Herrera Garcia get life in prison because the death was not premeditated murder but was more akin to manslaughter, in which a depraved indifference to human life is shown.
“This is so far removed from everyday manslaughter,” the judge added.
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