(COLORADO SPRINGS) — A Colorado Springs woman was found guilty by a federal jury on Friday, Sept. 22 for her role in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in the death of a 16-year-old boy.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, 58-year-old Marlene McGuire was convicted for selling pills that contained fentanyl to three teens near a fire station in the Security-Widefield area on Jan. 30, 2022. On Jan. 31, the father and stepmother of one of the teens, a 16-year-old boy, found him dead in his bedroom.
Also in the room was various drug paraphernalia and a bag containing pills.
According to an arrest affidavit, the boy’s mother, Maria Cecilia Davis-Conchie, had connected her son and two of his underage friends with two drug dealers, one of whom was McGuire. The three boys believed they were buying Percocet from McGuire. Following an autopsy, the victim’s cause of death was determined to be acute fentanyl toxicity.
An investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) identified McGuire and one other person as the suspects who sold the pills to the boys, and also revealed that McGuire also conspired to sell various controlled substances—including methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine—since at least May 2020.
On Feb. 21, 2022, the FBI and CSPD executed a federal search warrant at McGuire’s home in Colorado Springs. In addition to finding McGuire in the home, law enforcement officers located and seized methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and a blue pill which contained fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is a deadly plague consuming our communities. In this case, the defendant was part of a conspiracy that led to the overdose death of a young man,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Mark Michalek. “The cooperation with our law enforcement partners in Colorado Springs made this result possible. The family of the deceased young man can know that those who supplied the deadly drugs have been held accountable and will no longer be able to provide poison to other juveniles.”
McGuire’s sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 6, 2023.
