A 21-year-old Laguna Niguel man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison Tuesday for selling fentanyl that killed two people.
Michel Joseph Abdallah pleaded guilty Nov. 12 to two counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, a count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and a count of possession of a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
One of the victims was in a drug rehab facility in Mission Viejo when he texted Abdallah for fentanyl, according to a sentencing brief from federal prosecutors. The victim asked Abdallah to hurl the pills over a fence, which the defendant did for $30, prosecutors said.
The victim was found dead in his bed the next day, prosecutors said.
In May 2023, Abdallah sold pills to a teenage girl, who was found by her mother dead on May 15 of that year, prosecutors said.
A search of Abdallah’s car and home in June 2023 yielded thousands of fentanyl pills, hundreds of grams of powdered fentanyl and two guns, prosecutors said.
Abdallah “apparently was willing to sell to anyone to line his pockets, including a young man attempting to overcome his addiction through rehab and a young girl still living at home with her mother,” prosecutors said.
The defendant was 19 when he sold the drugs and he struggled through a turbulent childhood “marked by instability, including his father’s periods of incarceration and his parents’ ultimate divorce; physical abuse; and early exposure to substance abuse through family members,” prosecutors said.
Abdallah’s mother, Lea Reyes, wrote a letter to U.S. District Judge Fred W. Slaughter offering “condolences to the families who lost a loved one.”
She detailed how her family has struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues.
Reyes said she moved to Orange County when her son was 6 years old after divorcing his father. She said her son later told her his father would hit him during visitations and she accused her ex-husband of domestic violence.
Abdallah showed early signs of struggling in school and was later diagnosed with “severe anxiety and ADHD impulsivity” in May 2018, Reyes said.
She said despite some of his issues in the classroom he was also known as a kind and thoughtful child. She described him as a “gentle soul and always looking out for others, being available, even during his silent struggles that were hidden behind his big smile and bright blue eyes.”
She said her athletic son spiraled down when he got kicked off the high school football team for “smoking weed and because he could not remember the plays.” Reyes said she sought counseling and therapy for her son as his brushes with the law heightened.