Green Bay girl convicted of reckless homicide for selling fentanyl-laced drugs when she was 15
GREEN BAY – A Green Bay girl awaits sentencing after pleading no contest in the death of a teen to whom she delivered fentanyl-laced drugs in 2022.
Maylia Sotelo, 17, pleaded no contest Friday to one count of first-degree reckless homicide for delivering drugs, as party to a crime. A no-contest plea means she accepted a guilty verdict without accepting or denying any guilt.
She also pleaded no contest in another case to one count of possession with intent to deliver more than 50 grams of fentanyl, a Class C felony, and one count of manufacturing, distributing or delivering less than 10 grams of fentanyl, as party to a crime, a Class E felony. Two other charges — another count of manufacturing, distributing or delivering less than 10 grams of fentanyl and a count of possession with intent to deliver THC — were dismissed in a plea deal.
Sotelo's sentencing hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. July 9.
What happened?
According to a criminal complaint, on the morning of Dec. 3, 2022, police were called to a home in De Pere for a welfare check. An 18-year-old man was unresponsive in a locked bedroom, and officers broke down the door to find him dead. Police found drug paraphernalia near the teen.
An autopsy found the teen died of a fentanyl overdose.
De Pere police identified Sotelo, who they believed sold the teen pills, through online message exchanges and found that narcotics investigators with the Brown County Drug Task Force had an open case file under her name. According to the criminal complaint in that case, investigators had a confidential informant wear a wire and purchase five Percocet pills from Sotelo Nov. 29, 2022. The pills tested positive for fentanyl.
In the homicide complaint, Lt. Matthew Ronk of the Brown County Drug Task Force wrote that the drug task force had been buying blue Percocet "M30" pills "a minimum of weekly for at least the past two years in the Brown County area." Ronk said in every instance, the pills tested positive for fentanyl.
According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, seven out of every 10 pills seized by the DEA contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. The DEA says just 2 milligrams of fentanyl can kill a person.
De Pere police investigators in the homicide case contacted the Brown County Drug Task Force about Sotelo. The drug task force informed De Pere police a controlled buy was set up as a plan to arrest Sotelo.
On the evening of Dec. 6, law enforcement arrested Sotelo and another person after they arrived in the parking lot of the Taco Bell at 1529 W. Mason St. to deliver an order of 10 Percocet pills to a confidential informant. Police located three plastic bags of marijuana, $584 in cash and a handgun in their vehicle.
On Dec. 9, 2022, investigators discovered there was a shoebox in Sotelo's bedroom that contained 775 M30 pills that tested positive for fentanyl, 14 THC vape cartridges and nearly $4,000 in cash.
On Dec. 12, 2022, investigators spoke with Sotelo at the Fond du Lac County Juvenile Detention Center. In the interview with law enforcement, Sotelo shared the passcode to her phone, which investigators had obtained a search warrant for, according to a complaint.
Numerous conversations over text messages and Facebook Messenger between September and December 2022 discussed various drug deals. Many of the conversations regarding Sotelo selling drugs were with teens between 15 and 17 years old, according to the complaint.
During the interview, Sotelo told investigators she started selling drugs after dealing with her own addiction and ending up in a situation where she owed money.
Because Sotelo was just 15 at the time of her arrest, her attorneys tried to get her case moved to juvenile court. However, Brown County Circuit Court Judge Beau Liegeois ruled in July that the case would stay in adult court.
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How much prison time could Sotelo face?
In sentencings, judges take into account a variety of both aggravating factors — like the severity of the crime — and mitigating factors — like Sotelo's young age.
The first-degree reckless homicide charge and possession with intent to deliver more than 50 grams of fentanyl are both Class C felonies, which carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
For the count of delivering less than 10 grams of fentanyl, Sotelo could face an additional 15 years in prison and fine of up to $15,000.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Green Bay teen convicted in fentanyl overdose death of De Pere man
