"Sometimes we come from low-income families, and in wanting to be someone in life, we make mistakes without thinking about the consequences,"
"I'm sorry for what I did."
"Before I got caught, I was using fentanyl, and I feel that that drug makes you go crazy. I almost lost my wife and son because of it. The loss of my father affected me and I took refuge in drugs. I wasn't even thinking what I was doing or who I was hurting,"
"men in South Africa who go a mile below the ground to illegally mine for gold, displaced farmers in Brazil who clear pieces of the Amazon rain forest."
Elvin Melendez Cruz, 31, was sentenced to six years in prison after authorities seized six pounds of fentanyl, more than $12,000, and a firearm at the Bay Breeze Inn in August 2023. The case stemmed from a wiretap investigation into suspected dealer Jair Ramirez Castillo, who prosecutors say was supplied by Melendez Cruz. Melendez Cruz pleaded guilty to possessing fentanyl for distribution and illegal use of a cellphone. Ramirez Castillo received a 33-month sentence in a separate case. Both defendants cited impoverished backgrounds and personal struggles, while prosecutors said they profited from and endangered the Bay Area with fentanyl distribution.
Read at The Mercury News
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