GREEN BAY – A 36-year-old Green Bay man was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl pills, one of which killed a 17-year-old girl, in the Green Bay area in 2023.
Roosevelt Taylor pleaded guilty in March to knowingly distributing a substance containing fentanyl, resulting in the death of a person.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Taylor distributed counterfeit Percocet "M30" pills in the Green Bay area "for at least several weeks" in 2023. Court records say he dealt the drugs between May 30 and June 21 of that year.
Taylor described himself as a "middler," who helped connect buyers with a larger drug distributer, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. He purchased the pills he sold to the 17-year-old girl from another Green Bay man, who was sentenced to federal prison in April.
The counterfeit pills contained fentanyl, a synthetic opiate of which just 2 milligrams can kill a person, according to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
According to the DEA's website, seven out of every 10 pills seized by the DEA contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. In 2023, the DEA seized 79.5 million fentanyl pills.
What happened?
The following information is from court records:
In the early morning hours of June 4, 2023, Taylor and the 17-year-old girl messaged on Facebook to arrange a drug buy.
Taylor then messaged his supplier, 32-year-old Keenan Denruyter, to purchase 30 pills for $125 — 12 of which he would sell to the teen for the same price.
After the deal was agreed upon, Taylor picked up the teen on Green Bay's west side and drove her to Denruyter's home on the east side of the city. There, Taylor received the pills from Denruyter, and sold 12 of them to the girl.
Taylor then dropped the girl off at a nearby residence on Harvey Street, where she went alone into the basement, used the fentanyl pills and died.
Officers from the Green Bay Police Department located drug paraphernalia near the teen's body, including a rolled-up dollar bill and tin foil with burn marks.
The Brown County Medical Examiner, Dr. Elizabeth A. Douglas, determined the teen died of fentanyl toxicity.
At the time of the girl's death, Taylor was on extended supervision for previous convictions of robbery, burglary and delivering heroin, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
What were the sentencing arguments?
Taylor's defense attorney requested the 20-year prison sentence — the federal mandatory minimum for fentanyl trafficking offenses resulting in death. Prosecutors asked for a higher sentence, of 25 years in prison, court records say.
At Taylor's sentencing hearing, Senior U.S. District Judge William C. Griesbach said trafficking fentanyl is equivalent to giving out "poison," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.
How much time will Taylor be under court supervision?
Griesbach sentenced Taylor to 15 years of supervised release following his time in prison.
Who else was sentenced to prison for the drug deals?
Denruyter, the man who Taylor obtained the fentanyl pills from, pleaded guilty in January to distributing fentanyl resulting in death, possessing fentanyl and cocaine with intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm and ammunition while convicted of a felony.
Denruyter was involved in another drug deal that also resulted in a death. On July 13, 2023, he sold pills to an 18-year-old Green Bay woman who died the following day.
In April, he was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison.
For the 17-year-old girl's death, Taylor and Denruyter owe a restitution payment totaling $2,425, court records say.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @ArseneauKelli.
Most Popular
Comments / 0