Tampa Woman Charged With Distributing Heroin And Fentanyl, Causing Death

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces the return of an indictment charging Joamary Rosario (28, Tampa) with conspiring to distribute a substance that contained a mixture of heroin, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl and distributing a substance that contained a mixture of heroin, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl, causing the death of an individual. If convicted, Rosario faces a minimum mandatory penalty of 20 years, and up to life, in federal prison. 

According to the

and information presented in court, beginning on an unknown date but no later than November 6, 2018, and continuing through November 7, 2018, Rosario conspired with other individuals to possess and distribute heroin, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl.

On November 6, 2018, Rosario sold 10 plastic bags—each of which contained a substance composed of a mixture of heroin, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl—to an individual. The individual injected himself with the substance from one of the bags and died. A medical autopsy revealed that the cause of death was an accidental overdose caused by a mixture of heroin and fentanyl.

On November 7, 2018, an undercover law enforcement officer contacted Rosario, posing as the deceased individual, and asked her to bring him more of what she had delivered the previous night. Rosario agreed. When she arrived at the meeting place, she was arrested and found to be in possession of three more bags of the same substance.

An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.

This case is part of the Middle District of Florida’s anti-opioid strategy to combat opioid trafficking and abuse. This case was investigated by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Heroin Working Group, with assistance from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. It will be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael M. Gordon.