Three convicted drug dealers were sentenced on Wednesday in connection to a pair of deadly overdoses.
Back in March, Jordan Watts and Ben Taylor died after fatal overdoses of drugs, which were also laced with Fentanyl.
It's their deaths and their text messages that law enforcement found that lead investigators to Alec Donovan, Lucas Cuellar and Tyler Winters.
After a successful investigation by using a confidential informant, Reno Police detectives were able to arrest the three suspects, who are accused of selling drugs to two University of Nevada students, who later overdosed on them.
"They were buying and selling from each other, who sold the pills that went into the mouths of the boys who unfortunately died, we don't know," said Washoe County Judge Egan Walker.
"The opioid case got me investigating the drug portion of it, from there I was able to determine that drug dealing was one of the main factors of the case," said Detective Broome with the Reno Police Department.Â
Wednesday, Tyler Winters was sentenced to three to ten years for felony drug possession and one to three years for possession of a firearm with scratched off serial numbers.
Lucas Cuellar was sentenced with one to four years for possession of a firearm as an addict, and one to three years for felony drug possession to be served concurrently.
Alex Donovan was sentenced with no more than five years probation, but 90 days GPS monitoring.
"I want you to never have to be in the position of the chain of events that led to the death of another human being, or in this case two. Don't let that leave you. Use it, and change," said Judge Walker.
One of the victims mothers says it isn't about punishment, but how to stop the drug problem.
"I feel a little vindicated, its not that I'm out for revenge, I just want these drugs to stop being placed into the hands of other children and just to make the community safer," said Teri Taylor, Ben Taylor's mother.Â
