North Texas man sentenced for teen’s fentanyl death has ‘no sympathy’ for victim
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Dallas dealer Jesse Medina sentenced to 24 years for teen's fentanyl death
- Medina sold four pills for $40; teen died after using drugs with co-defendant
- Authorities cite prior convictions and lack of remorse in sentencing decision
A $40 drug deal in Dallas ended with the death of a 17-year-old boy, and now the man who sold him the fentanyl pills has been sentenced to federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas said in a news release.
Jesse Medina, 42, pleaded guilty in March and was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison on Monday, Aug. 17, according to the release.
Drug dealer has no sympathy for 17-year-old victim
On Jan. 30, 2024, Medina, also known as “Plug,” was contacted by co-defendant Connor Miller, 21, to purchase fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Miller and the 17-year-old victim met Medina at a location on Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas, according to the release.
Miller and the teenager returned to Miller’s home, where they crushed and used the fentanyl pills supplied by Medina, investigators said.
Medina was arrested the next day with 25 fentanyl pills, according to the release.
A few days after his arrest, Medina contacted a friend and told her that he sold “four pills to a 21-year-old and that a 17-year-old who used those pills died,” the release stated.
Investigators found evidence that Medina told his friend and his lawyer that he does not have any sympathy for the 17-year-old victim at all, “’cause that’s his choice.”
“[H]e’s old enough to know how dangerous these pills are,” the drug dealer said, according to investigators. “I don’t got no sympathy for that. ... [I]f I would have sold it to him .... I would feel bad, but I don’t even feel bad at all, I’m cool, ‘cause I didn’t do nothing wrong.”
Defendant had multiple prior convictions
Medina had multiple prior convictions for possession of a controlled substance, and he had been sent to a substance abuse felony punishment facility and an intermediate sanctions facility in 2010 and 2019 while he was on probation.
In 2016, Medina was ordered to serve more than three years in a Texas prison for an offense that occurred in Rockwall County. After being released from prison, Medina was arrested again in 2018 for possessing methamphetamine and ordered to serve four years’ deferred probation in Dallas County. A motion to revoke that probation was filed in 2021 and remains pending, according to the release.
“Tough sentences are necessary for those defendants responsible for the tragic deaths resulting from fentanyl trafficking,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson said in the release. “This Office will continue to advocate for the most severe sentences for those who, like the defendant, have a cavalier attitude toward the deadly consequences of their actions. While a lengthy prison sentence for this offender and others like him will never restore the loss suffered by the victim’s family, we will continue to prosecute those who flood our community with this poison to the fullest extent of the law.”
Medina’s co-defendants, Miller and Tecose Dchaz Martin, have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.