A dealer whose fentanyl-laced drugs caused multiple spring breakers including West Point cadets to overdose at a Wilton Manors home last year has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
Axel Giovany Casseus, 22, had been charged with cocaine trafficking following the incident that left six young men and one woman hospitalized. He pleaded guilty in December.
He was given the sentence Thursday on the one-year anniversary of the March 9, 2022 overdose incident. He'll get credit for time served.
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Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials said four of the patients had taken a substance believed to be cocaine laced with fentanyl.
Their two friends were exposed to the fentanyl when they tried to give them CPR. Police said a seventh person, a woman, was later transported to the hospital after feeling ill.
When paramedics arrived, they found multiple men in cardiac arrest in the front yard of the home, which was a short-term vacation rental.
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Police and paramedics began doing chest compressions, and after determining it was an overdose situation, quickly used the overdose drug Narcan, fire rescue officials said.
Some of the patients were able to regain a heartbeat after the Narcan, but four were still in respiratory arrest when they were transported to the hospitals, officials said.
Five West Point cadets were involved and four of them were transported to the hospital. One was an Army football player.
Authorities said investigators found the phone number for the alleged dealer who sold drugs to the spring breakers and used the number to negotiate a drug deal with Casseus.
Undercover officers later met with Casseus and he sold them 43 grams of suspected cocaine in exchange for $1,000, authorities said.
The phone used to communicate with the spring breakers was found in Casseus' possession, and Casseus admitted to participating in the transaction, officials said.
