A Santa Clarita man is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in what’s considered the nation’s first criminal case involving a death caused by the synthetic opioid protonitazene.
Benjamin Anthony Collins, 22, pleaded guilty in June in downtown Los Angeles to a single federal count of distribution of protonitazene resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Federal prosecutors contend the drug is up to three times more powerful than fentanyl.
According to the indictment, during the early morning hours of April 19, 2024, Collins sold pills laced with protonitazene, which resulted in the death of the victim. In recent years, protonitazene has been sold over the internet and is believed to be several times more powerful than fentanyl, which itself is far stronger than heroin.
Collins also agreed to sell the 22-year-old victim a bulk supply of the pills in the future. But the man, a resident of Stevenson Ranch, swallowed the pills in the front seat of his car soon after receiving them and quickly died. His mother later found him dead in the car parked outside the family home and called 911, court papers stated.
Collins faces a sentence between 20 years and life imprisonment, prosecutors noted.