Governor Hobbs has signed into law legislation sponsored by State Representative Quang Nguyen, which enhances sentencing for those guilty of conducting high volume fentanyl sales.
HB 2245, known as the “Ashley Dunn Act,” mandates more severe sentences for involving at least 200 grams, roughly equivalent to 2,000 pills of this potent and lethal narcotic. For a first offense, the law sets a minimum sentence of 5 years and a maximum of 15 years, with repeat offenders facing potential sentences of 10 to 20 years.
“After three years of work, I’m incredibly proud to finally have the Ashley Dunn Act become law,” stated Representative Nguyen. “More than half the fentanyl seized in the United States is coming through Arizona. An alarming 42 million pills were seized in Arizona in 2023 – 70 percent of which contained a lethal dose. Fentanyl is wreaking havoc on communities, particularly in my home of Yavapai County. It must be stopped and more done to protect Arizona families from losing loved ones to it. This new law, giving law enforcement and prosecutors stronger sentencing tools to go after dealers, will help in that goal.”
Nguyen noted the law honors the memory of Ashley Marie Dunn, a young woman from Prescott who lost her life to fentanyl in May 2021 after taking half of a counterfeit Percocet pill. Her mother, Josephine Dunn, has since become a fervent advocate for stricter anti-fentanyl legislation to prevent other families from enduring the grief that she and her husband faced following their daughter’s death.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day