Lee County jury convicts Joshua Pulley in landmark Fentanyl death

A jury convicted a Lee County drug dealer whose product led to the Fentanyl death of a woman, the first of its kind in Lee County.

Joshua Pulley met a woman in a restaurant parking lot in December 2022 and then provided her with fentanyl-laced drugs, the State’s Attorney’s Office, 20th Judicial Circuit, said in a Nov. 1 press release. The arrest affidavit states the woman returned home and her roommate later found her unresponsive. Efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.

Records show the medical examiner attributed the death to Fentanyl poisoning.

In May 2022, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that increases penalties for fentanyl trafficking and could lead to dealers facing the death penalty or life in prison if the methamphetamine they distribute kills someone.

The Fort Myers Police Department, which is conducting the investigation, encouraged the public to continue providing information that would lead to such arrests.

“We will continue to eliminate dangerous drugs and dealers from the streets” #CityofFortMyers and encourage the community to report suspicious drug sales,” the department’s Facebook page reported, calling it a landmark case.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a measure in May 2022 that increases penalties for fentanyl trafficking, which could lead to dealers facing the death penalty or life in prison if the methamphetamine they distribute kills someone.

The law came into effect less than three months before the woman’s death.

Pulley’s sentencing will be determined on December 16 before Judge Nicholas Thompson.

State Attorney Amira Fox announced the first-degree murder and drug sales charges at a press conference in July 2023 after convening the grand jury. Pulley has remained in the Lee County Jail without bond since July 13, 2023.

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