In a case highlighting the grim repercussions of the opioid epidemic, a Grand Junction man, Nathanial Matheny, 23, has been handed a combined 119-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to charges linked with the fentanyl overdose death of a minor. In a hearing that marked the culmination of a protracted legal ordeal, Matheny received 71 months in federal custody and an additional 48 months in state prison, the terms of which are set to run concurrently.
According to the details furnished in the federal plea agreement, on May 20, 2021, police were summoned to confront a critical scenario involving a young woman found to be not breathing in a local residence. Subsequent toxicological analysis laid bare the fact that fentanyl was to blame for her untimely demise. The trail of evidence led, inexorably, to Matheny who confessed to having used drugs with the minor before her overdose and, in a reckless attempt to, unthinkably, cover his tracks, relocated her body to her home after the tragic incident.
Acting United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, Matt Kirsch addressed the gravity of the situation, stating, “This is a tragic story of a young person whose life was cut short because of fentanyl,” as obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice. Kirsch emphasized the critical nature of the fentanyl crisis in Colorado and underscored the vigorous efforts of his office to prosecute those complicit in its distribution…