Man sentenced 20 years for San Diego-based Marine’s fentanyl overdose death
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KESQ) - A man who sold fentanyl-laced pills that caused the overdose death of an active-duty San Diego-based U.S. Marine was sentenced today to 20 years in prison.
Nameer Mohammad Atta, 25, was found guilty by a San Diego federal jury of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death for selling pills that killed the victim identified by prosecutors only as C.M.R., a 26-year-old active-duty lance corporal.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, C.M.R. was found in his barracks at Miramar in May of 2020 "in the midst of an overdose." Fellow service members and responding paramedics tried in vain to revive him.
Prosecutors allege Atta, who was 19 years old at the time of C.M.R.'s death, sold the victim dozens of counterfeit pills in April and May while knowing they contained fentanyl. He also told buyers on social media that his pills were the "most trusted'' in San Diego, while texting others to say his were the "most trusted" and "most potent" in the area, prosecutors said.
Atta was arrested in 2021 following an investigation that included a search of the victim's phone and the discovery of communications between C.M.R. and Atta.
The victim's father made a statement during Friday's sentencing hearing in which he told Atta, ``My son trusted you at your word while desperate, in pain and making a mistake. You deserve this sentence because you just did not care who you impacted.''
Defense attorney Anthony Colombo said his client intends to appeal the conviction.
The attorney said he advised Atta not to make a statement at the hearing while the appeal is pending, but told U.S. District Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro that Atta considered the victim a friend and that he was ``genuinely remorseful'' and ``not a day goes by that he doesn't wish this didn't happen.''
The 20-year sentence is the mandatory minimum term for distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.
Atta was convicted in 2022, but the sentencing saw numerous delays over the next few years as Atta's attorneys filed ultimately unsuccessful motions for a new trial.
