On Aug. 16, 2017, a Phoenix grand jury returned an indictment charging Fanny Madrigal-Lopez, 45, of Peoria, Ariz., with federal crimes related to fentanyl trafficking, including one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death—a crime that, under federal law, carries a mandatory-minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison. Madrigal-Lopez is currently being detained, pending a Detention Hearing scheduled for Aug. 24, 2017.
Specifically, it is alleged that, on Nov. 16, 2016, Madrigal-Lopez distributed fentanyl to a man who later died from ingesting it. It is further alleged that Madrigal-Lopez used her residence for the purpose of distributing fentanyl and oxycodone from the summer of 2016 through Nov. 16, 2016.
An indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration with the assistance of the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the Peoria Police Department, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.