California Man Sentenced to Life for Fatal Fairbanks Fentanyl Overdose

Junior Gafatasi Tulali received a life sentence for supplying counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills that led to a fatal overdose in Fairbanks.Photo byMatthew AnsleyonUnsplash

Junior Gafatasi Tulali, 48, was sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for his involvement in the fatal fentanyl overdose of a Fairbanks man in October 2020, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Alaska.

Court records show that on or around Oct. 13, 2020, Tulali agreed to sell 500 counterfeit Oxycodone M30 pills to a Florida resident who intended to distribute them in Fairbanks.

The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that the pills, which were shipped in a parcel from California, arrived in Fairbanks on Oct. 17. Inside the package were at least 480 pills, later determined to contain acetaminophen and an unknown amount of fentanyl.

The department stated that the individual who retrieved the shipment distributed the counterfeit pills to several other dealers in the Fairbanks area. On Oct. 26, the victim purchased two pills from the batch.

Sometime between Oct. 26 and Oct. 28, the victim ingested the pills and was found dead in his home on Oct. 28. Medical examiners determined the cause of death was acute fentanyl toxicity, and investigators linked the pills to Tulali's shipment. the department says.

According to evidence presented at trial, Tulali’s shipment was also connected to two additional non-fatal fentanyl overdoses in Fairbanks. The U.S. Attorney's Office stated that both dealers involved in distributing the pills to the victim were convicted in 2022 for their role in the offense.

“In 2023, Alaska had the highest overdose death rate in the nation. Fentanyl poisoning is devastating our state, largely due to drug suppliers like Mr. Tulali, who gamble with human lives every time they sell a counterfeit pill,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska.

“Thanks to the outstanding investigative and prosecutorial work done in this case, we traced the pills that tragically killed the victim back to the source and held three people accountable for the irreparable damage they caused.”