A South Bay man was sentenced to prison for distributing fentanyl-laced pills that killed a teen boy while “mocking him” on social media.
After a five-day trial, Alexander Declan Bell Wilson, 23, of Rolling Hills, was found guilty of one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On May 14, 2020, Wilson agreed to provide five Percocet pills to the 15-year-old boy.
Evidence discovered on the boy’s cellphone shows he believed the pills were “authentic pharmaceutical pills that contained the opioid oxycodone,” court documents said.
At around 11:30 p.m. that night, the victim’s 13-year-old brother met Wilson outside their home to pick up the pills.
Wilson handed a plastic bag containing the pills to the 13-year-old from his car. The boy went back inside and gave the pills to the victim. Shortly after, the victim posted a photo of the pills to his Snapchat account before ingesting the drugs.
Later that night from 1:50 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., Wilson and the victim argued on Snapchat over the “proper way to consume the pills.”
During those chats, Wilson chastised the victim for chewing the pills and then shared screenshots of their conversation with his Snapchat followers, authorities said.
The next morning, the boy’s grandmother found him dead in his bedroom. Officials later confirmed his death was caused by fentanyl poisoning.
“After [the victim’s] death, [Wilson] showed no remorse for his crimes,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “To the contrary, he lied to police about his conduct, deleted incriminating evidence from his phone, and minimized his role in the offense. Indeed, [Wilson] blamed [the victim] for his own death, boasting that [the victim] ‘did that to himself.’”
Wilson was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to pay $2,364 in restitution. Upon his release, he will be placed on supervised release for 12 years.