Owner of daycare where toddler fatally ingested fentanyl pleads guilty to federal charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who owns a day care center in New York Little boy who drank fentanyl died He pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal drug charges.

More than a year after the September 2023 death of 22-month-old Nicholas Dominici, Grei Mendez pleaded guilty to charges including conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death in Manhattan.

Earlier this month, her husband, Felix Herrera-Garcia, was sentenced He was sentenced to 45 years in prison after pleading guilty to drug and bodily harm charges.

Mendez, 37, cried briefly as she revealed she agreed with her husband and another person to possess and distribute drugs, then in September 2023 helped the duo package and store narcotics at the Bronx apartment where she ran the Divino Niño day care.

“This will haunt me as long as I live,” said Mendez, who has four children.

Mendez said her husband encouraged her to open a daycare and she believes he did so to help her. But he said he realized as soon as the doors opened that it was actually “a perfect way to hide his drug business.”

Mendez is expected to be sentenced on March 3. Mendez faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to life in prison.

Three other children The man exposed to fentanyl at the daycare survived after paramedics administered the overdose-reversing drug Narcan.

Police executed a search warrant at his Bronx apartment and found a large amount of fentanyl and other drug paraphernalia hidden under a door in a children’s playground. Photos shared by police At that time, I was shown bags full of dust hidden by plywood and tile flooring.

Researchers also have a kilograms of fentanyl stored on play mats Many devices used by children to mix the powder with other narcotics and press them into bricks.

Prosecutors also said Mendez Took steps to cover up drug operation After noticing that some children do not wake up from their sleep.

They said she called her husband before notifying first responders, and security camera footage later showed the woman entering the building and exiting the alley with several shopping bags.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams called Mendez’s behavior “reprehensible” in a statement.

“Grei Mendez admitted to conspiring to possess and distribute large amounts of dangerously toxic fentanyl at the Bronx Day Care Center, where parents expected their children would be protected and safe,” he said. “From the beginning, this case demonstrated the senseless collateral damage caused by the fentanyl epidemic and should serve as a reminder to all of us that the demand for illicit narcotics often puts innocent bystanders at risk as drug traffickers relentlessly pursue profit.”

Mendez’s attorneys did not respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday. They had previously said that she had no knowledge of the drug operation and claimed that her husband was responsible for the drugs.

Mendez was also charged in state court with murder, manslaughter and assault. He pleaded not guilty.

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