Husband Of Daycare Operator Sentenced To 45 Years In Prison In Connection With Fentanyl Poisoning Of Four Children At A Bronx Daycare

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that FELIX HERRERA GARCIA was sentenced to 45 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl out of a daycare in the Bronx, which resulted in the death of one child and the poisoning of three others. Herrera Garcia pled guilty on June 10, 2024, before United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who imposed today's sentence.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: "Felix Herrera Garcia operated a deadly fentanyl trafficking enterprise out of a Bronx daycare, recklessly putting babies at risk of fentanyl exposure. Tragically, on September 15, 2023, one child was killed and four others were poisoned at the daycare by the defendant's deadly drugs. This case demonstrates the deadly reach and scope of the fentanyl epidemic, and the profound damage it inflicts on American lives, including the lives of the most vulnerable among us. This Office and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to ensure that anyone who harms or risks the lives of children in connection with their deadly narcotics activities will be brought to justice."

According to the Complaint, the Indictment, and other documents in the public record:

From at least in or about October 2022 through September 2023, HERRERA GARCIA and others conspired to distribute narcotics out of Divino Niño Daycare (the "Daycare") in the Bronx. There, HERRERA GARCIA and his co-conspirators maintained more than eleven kilograms of fentanyl and heroin in secret compartments, or traps, located underneath the floor tiles in the playroom of the Daycare, where the children played, ate, and slept on a daily basis.

As a consequence of the drug conspiracy perpetrated by HERRERA GARCIA and his co-conspirators, on or about September 15, 2023, four children at the Daycare, all of whom were under three years of age, experienced the effects of poisoning from exposure to fentanyl. Three of the children were hospitalized. The fourth child, 22-month-old boy, died.

* * *

In addition to the prison term, HERRERA GARCIA, 35, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 5 years of supervised release.

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), the New York City Police Department ("NYPD"), the Southern District of New York Digital Forensic Unit, the Complex Analytical and Social Media Enhancement Team at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force ("OCDETF") New York Strike Force, and the United States Marshals Service ("USMS"). Mr. Williams also thanks the NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force of the USMS, the USMS Office of International Operations, the USMS for the Southern District of New York, the USMS for the Southern District of Texas, the USMS for the Southern District of California, the USMS Mexico Field Office, the USMS Investigative Operations Division, the DEA New York Strike Force, the DEA Regional Office in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the DEA Regional Office in McAllen, Texas, the DEA Regional Office in Mexico City, Mexico, the DEA Regional Office in Hermosillo, Mexico, the DEA Regional Office in Monterrey, Mexico, the DEA Special Operations Division, the NYPD 52nd Precinct's Detective Squad, the NYPD Bronx Homicide Squad, the NYPD Laboratory, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Mexican Federal and State authorities.

The OCDETF New York Strike Force provides for the establishment of permanent, multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The specific mission of the New York Strike Force is to target, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, reduce the illegal drug supply in the United States, and bring criminals to justice.

This case is being prosecuted by the Office's Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon C. Thompson, Maggie Lynaugh, and Justin Rodriguez, as well as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl P. Miller of the Office of the Bronx County District Attorney's Homicide Bureau, are in charge of the prosecution.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.