Orlando Man Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Fentanyl Overdose Death

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Hugo Margenat-Castro (Orlando, 25) to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin and distributing fentanyl that caused the death of another. He pleaded guilty on March 17, 2017.

According to court documents and evidence from the sentencing hearing, Margenat-Castro used a social networking website called “The Experience Project” to advertise that he had heroin available for sale. He posted these ads in forums titled, “I Love Heroin” and “Heroin in Orlando.” Visitors to the website could then contact Margenat-Castro and arrange to meet him to purchase the heroin. At some point, the heroin began to be laced with fentanyl.

On August 18, 2015, W.G. contacted Margenat-Castro on the website and arranged to travel from Georgia to Orlando to purchase heroin. Shortly after returning to Georgia, W.G. injected what he thought was heroin. The next morning, after trying to contact W.G. and getting no response, a family member drove to W.G.’s home and found him dead in the bathroom. The purported heroin that W.G. had purchased from Margenat-Castro and the needles that he had used to inject the heroin were also in the bathroom. Subsequent testing revealed that the substance that W.G. had purchased from Margenat-Castro was fentanyl, not heroin. A medical examiner determined that W.G. died of fentanyl toxicity and his death was ruled a homicide.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Shawn P. Napier.