RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KNX) — Authorities arrested a 22-year-old Riverside man Friday morning accused of selling counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that caused the fatal overdose of a college student two years ago right before Christmas.
Brandon Michael McDowell was taken into custody without incident and scheduled to be arraigned Friday following an investigation into the death of 20-year-old Alexandra Capelouto—a Temecula native who died after taking the fatal dose of fentanyl supplied to her while she was home for the holidays in 2019.
A grand jury named McDowell in the indictment filed Wednesday, charging him with one count of distributing fentanyl resulting in death, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
McDowell faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a possible max of life without parole if he’s convicted.
According to prosecutors, Capelouto was a student at Arizona State University visiting home for the holidays when on Dec. 22, 2019, she contacted McDowell via Snapchat to order Oxycodone, according to City News Service.
Prosecutors alleged McDowell sold the victim an undisclosed quantity of “counterfeit Oxycodone M30 pills,” the release said. Investigators believe she crushed at least one of the pills and snorted it before “succumbing to the powerful opioid in the pills.”
Capelouto's father, Matt Capelouto, publicly stated in November his daughter did not realize she was ingesting fentanyl-laced pills, according to CNS.
“This is another incredibly sad case that demonstrates the deadly threat of fentanyl that is now seen in a wide array of drugs sold on the street,” said U.S. Attorney Tracy L. Wilkinson. “My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate fatal overdose cases to identify and bring to justice every individual involved in the trafficking of fentanyl.”
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