SAN ANTONIO — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)), published as received.
SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man pleaded guilty in federal court in San Antonio Wednesday to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in death.
According to court documents, Patrick James Hall, 28, is charged with distribution of fentanyl resulting in the death of a 20-year-old woman. The two met on Oct. 28, 2020, in a hotel room where he had been selling the drug in the form of a small round blue pill disguised as oxycodone. Phone records indicate that the victim had been unconscious in Hall’s hotel room for an extended period before Hall returned a missed call to the victim’s friend using her cell phone. Hall notified the friend that she needed to pick up the victim from the hotel because she had overdosed. He then left the location without calling for emergency services. The victim’s friend, however, did alert emergency services and, upon their arrival, the victim was pronounced dead, noting she had been deceased for some time. A toxicology report showed that the victim had an amount of fentanyl in her blood that exceeded 24 times a fatal dose.
Hall was arrested on Nov. 19, 2020. Text messages sent from his phone confirmed that he had been selling the pills to multiple individuals at the time of the victim’s death, and that he himself had overdosed on the pills one week prior to this instance.
Hall is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15 and faces a penalty of 20 years to life in prison. A Federal District Court Judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas and Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux of the Drug Enforcement Administration Houston Field Office made the announcement.
The DEA and SAPD are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Hail is prosecuting the case.
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