United States Drug Enforcement Administration

OAKLAND – Alejandro Valentino Urias was sentenced today to 96 months in prison after admitting he supplied a fentanyl-laced counterfeit M30 pill that caused the overdose death of a 14-year-old girl, announced U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Acting Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris. The sentence was handed down by the Hon. Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, United States District Judge.

Urias, 22, of Concord, Calif., pleaded guilty to a single charge of distribution of fentanyl on July 21, 2022.  According to his plea agreement, on August 20, 2021, Urias sold two light blue counterfeit “M30” pills containing fentanyl to a minor teenage girl in the parking lot of a commercial plaza near Concord High School.  The minor teenage girl then gave one of the pills to a second teenager—identified in court documents only as “Victim 1.”  Victim 1 ingested one-half of the fentanyl-laced pill, which caused her to fatally overdose.  Victim 1’s father discovered her the next morning.  Victim 1 was 14 years old at the time of her death.

Urias admitted in his plea agreement that he continued to sell counterfeit M30 pills following Victim 1’s death.  Indeed, four days later, on August 25, 2021, Urias sold roughly 150 counterfeit M30 pills to an undercover DEA agent for $950.  The defendant acknowledged in his plea agreement that the pills he sold to the agent were tested at a DEA laboratory and found to contain fentanyl.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Gonzalez Rogers ordered Urias to serve 36 months of supervised release that will begin after the conclusion of Urias’s prison term.  Urias has been in custody since his arrest on September 8, 2021, and will begin serving his prison term immediately.

This investigation and prosecution are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”), which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

One Pill Can Kill: Beware of pills bought on the street: One Pill Can Kill. Fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance, is a highly potent opiate that can be diluted with cutting agents to create counterfeit pills that purport to mimic the effects of Oxycodone, Percocet, and other drugs, but can be obtained at a lower cost. However, very small variations in the amount or quality of fentanyl create huge effects on the potency of the counterfeit pills and can easily cause death. Fentanyl has now become the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Counterfeit, fentanyl-laced pills are usually shaped and colored to resemble pills that are sold legitimately at pharmacies. For example, the counterfeit pills involved in this case, known as M30s, mimic Oxycodone, but when sold on the street they routinely contain fentanyl. These tablets are round and often light blue in color, though they may be made in many colors, and have “M” and “30” imprinted on opposite sides of the pill.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Pastor is prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Andy Ding.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA with assistance of the Concord Police Department.  

Case #: CR 4:21-CR-372 YGR