Orlando Man Found Guilty Of Conspiring To Distribute Fentanyl That Resulted In Death

Orlando, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Joel David Fonseca Flores (42, Orlando) guilty of conspiring to distribute fentanyl that resulted in death. He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years, up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 7, 2024.

Fonseca Flores and his co-conspirator, Misty Lynn Parady, were charged by superseding indictment on August 16, 2023. Count one of the superseding indictment charged Fonseca Flores and Parady with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, resulting in N.K.'s death, as described above. Count two charged Fonseca Flores and Parady with aiding and abetting in the possession with intent to distribute a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and cocaine. Count three charged Flores with knowingly possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Fonseca Flores pleaded guilty to counts two and three of the superseding indictment on June 3, 2024.

According to evidence presented at trial, Fonseca Flores and Parady sold fake "M30" pills laced with fentanyl to the victim, N.K. Between April 2020 and April 2022, Fonseca Flores and Parady sold N.K. what she, at first, believed to be oxycodone. After some time, N.K. realized that the pills she was buying from them contained fentanyl.

Specifically, on October 31, 2021, N.K. warned Parady by text message that N.K. had tested positive for fentanyl. Parady relayed that information to Fonseca Flores. Then, again on March 31, 2022, within days of purchasing "M30" pills from Fonseca Flores, N.K. sent a text message to Parady containing an image of her drug test, showing that N.K. had tested negative for oxycodone and positive for fentanyl.

Despite these and other warnings, Fonseca Flores and Parady continued to supply N.K. with the counterfeit fentanyl pills, and N.K. ultimately died from a fentanyl overdose on April 4, 2022.

Parady pleaded guilty to a superseding information on May 24, 2024, and faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Her sentencing is scheduled for August 26, 2024.

Pursuant to the superseding indictment, Fonseca Flores must also forfeit all firearms and ammunition involved in or used in the charged offenses, including, but not limited to a Ruger 9mm pistol and associated ammunition.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Orlando Police Department Overdose Unit. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kara M. Wick and Stephanie McNeff.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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