A judge sentenced a woman to life in prison over a drug investigation that ended with several Douglas County deputies hospitalized for fentanyl exposure.

According to the Douglas County District Attorney's Office, Jessica Thomas pleaded guilty to 13 drug-related charges including high level trafficking.

She will be eligible for parole after serving 19 years.

Police tell us a five monthlong drug investigation led them to Stateline last October where Thomas and another woman, Regina Rojas were arrested.

Rojas was sentenced to 32.5 years in prison for her role earlier this year.

UPDATE, February 16, 2023: 

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office has announced that Regina Rojas has been sentenced to an aggregate term of 32.5 years in prison with a minimum parole eligibility of 12 years and four months.

Rojas was sentenced for her role in a series of drug sales that culminated in her arrest on October 20, 2022. (see below)

On December 19, 2022, Rojas pled guilty to eight counts of offenses related to the possession and sale of fentanyl and heroin, including two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance.

During the arrest, five Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputies suffered exposure to fentanyl and were transported to the hospital.

At sentencing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Erik Levin argued that trafficking in fentanyl poses a higher threat to the community than other controlled substances and that the 598 grams of fentanyl Rojas sold over the course of five transactions was enough to potentially kill thousands of people.

Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson stated that he considers the trafficking of fentanyl an aggravated public safety offense and his office will vigorously prosecute such cases.

In addition to her prison sentence, Rojas was ordered to pay fines and fees totaling $14,238. 

She's also ordered to pay restitution to Douglas County in the amount of $22,737 for worker’s compensation claims and cleaning costs of patrol vehicles and replacement costs of some equipment related to the deputies’ exposure to the fentanyl.

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The Douglas County Sheriff's Office says multiple deputies were exposed to fentanyl during an arrest in Stateline Thursday evening. 

Deputies, along with the FBI Safe Streets Task Force were investigating 35-year-old Regina Rojas and 32-year-old Jessica Thomas, both of California. 

Douglas County drug arrests

Deputies say undercover officers bought about 829.1 grams of fentanyl, 1,722.8 grams of methamphetamine, and 59.4 grams of heroin during the five-month long investigation. 

The investigation concluded with a buy/bust operation in Stateline at approximately 8:10 pm on October 20.

Authorities say during that buy/bust operation, five DCSO deputies were accidentally exposed to powder fentanyl and suffered symptoms related to acute fentanyl exposure (overdose).

Each deputy was administered naloxone and transported by ambulance to Barton Hospital in South Lake Tahoe, California. All five deputies were treated and released from Barton Hospital in the early hours of October 21.

Multiple agencies responded, including Tahoe Douglas Fire, East Fork Fire, Carson City HAZMAT, South Lake Tahoe Police, Nevada State Police and Reno Police Department. 

Authorities say there was no contamination of the Douglas County Jail or inside the Douglas County Court facilities. All facilities are open to the public at this time.

Rojas and Thomas were both booked into the DCSO Minden Jail. They have each initially been charged with three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, one count of sales of a controlled substance, and one count of possession of a controlled substance for sale. Additional Nevada criminal charges are pending. Their bail was set at $250,000 each.

Rojas and Thomas may also face Federal and California State criminal charges.

(Douglas County Sheriff's Office contributed to this report.)