Man caught trafficking fentanyl through Eagle County tells judge heartfelt story, receives 8-year sentence
Defendant said he met a man in jail whose son died from fentanyl: 'It opened my eyes'
Washington resident Estevan Osuna, 24, had no criminal record prior to being stopped in Gypsum in March in a rental car carrying 12.5 pounds of fentanyl.
Osuna was pulled over for swerving, and several factors tipped off Eagle County Sheriff Officer Evan Jaramillo.
“The following reasons led me to believe that Osuna (the passenger) were involved in criminal activity,” Jaramillo wrote in an affidavit. “Drove straight through the night from Phoenix, Arizona; driver rolled down the window as he passed my location; driver was locked at the 10-2 driving position; driver and passenger were extremely nervous and shaking; marijuana odor emanating from the vehicle; short trip to pick someone up in Denver, only to return back to Phoenix; rental agreement could not be provided indicating a third-party rental; Osuna’s nervousness escalated during questioning about narcotics; Osuna only answered (a question about pills) after I gave him an answer (is that a no?).”
Jaramillo then sent a drug-sniffing dog around the vehicle, and the dog indicated that there were drugs inside.
A search of the vehicle revealed cocaine, marijuana, some $2,000 in cash, and 12.5 pounds of fentanyl pills. Osuna has been in jail in Eagle County since that day, and on Monday, he was sentenced for his role in the felony drug trafficking crime.
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The prosecutor said the quantity of fentanyl seized by the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office could have killed “hundreds of thousands” of people.
Defense attorney Frank Moya disputed the claim.
“I guess I’m not quite sure that I agree with the accuracy of the unnamed research quoted by the government in the sentencing argument,” Moya said.
Judge Jonathan Shamis said whether Osuna had the ability to kill one person or 100,000, “regardless, it is a really scary drug.”
Osuna said he didn’t know how much death surrounds the drug fentanyl before his arrest, but while he was in jail awaiting sentencing, he met another inmate whose son had died from using fentanyl. Getting to know that inmate, and seeing the grief he was experiencing, made Osuna aware of the potential outcome of him trafficking the drug, he said.
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“It opened my eyes a lot,” Osuna said. “Luckily, (the fentanyl) didn’t go to where it was intended to.”
Osuna was sentenced to eight years behind bars, 307 days of which he has already served.
Shamis noted Osuna did not have a criminal record before the incident and asked him why he decided to turn to crime.
“It did have to do with the circumstances I was in at the time,” Osuna said “I was just in a hard time in my life. I split with the mother of my son, and I didn’t have a place to go. I was just looking to make some money.”
Osuna said he didn’t ask any questions regarding the offer he received to traffic the drugs.
“I was just told ‘you can do me this favor and you’ll get paid,'” he said. “I acknowledge that I did wrong and I apologize to the community of Colorado and any other communities that I could have harmed.”
Shamis said the person most affected by the crime will be Osuna’s 4-year-old son.
“I came to a lot of realizations through this that I probably wouldn’t have gone through while I was outside,” Osuna said. “I do want to say that I’m sorry to my parents — I disappointed them — and my son for not being there. I’m learning from this, I’ll tell you that much. I’ve learned a lot about life, a lot about myself, why I am the way I am, why I make the decisions that I’ve made.”
Osuna said jail has already made him a better person.
“I have plans of becoming a barber when I get out,” he said. “I learned to cut hair, which is something I can turn into a career. … I do want to thank God because he has allowed me to make something positive out of a negative.”
Shamis said he was happy to hear Osuna’s story.
“It sounds like you’re really serious about trying to make some change, and I wish you the best of luck,” Shamis said.
