‘Making progress’: Why Fresno County DA is hopeful for new fentanyl campaign

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – The Fresno County District Attorney’s Office has launched its third wave of fentanyl awareness billboards. The message reads, “You sell, Your cell, Murdered by fentanyl.”

Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp says they have seen a significant decrease in fentanyl overdoses, so they know these campaigns are making a difference.

Fresno County’s Fentanyl Education and Awareness Campaign started back in 2021. That year, the county saw 114 fentanyl-related deaths. Last year, that number dropped to 80.

“It is a fight that we are making progress in, but we are certainly not winning,” Smittcamp said. 

Earlier this year, the DA’s office handed down the county’s first-ever guilty verdict in a second-degree fentanyl murder case, making it the third county in the state to achieve this.

“Against the fentanyl dealer who had knowledge of the lethality of fentanyl, sold it, and continued to sell it after. This person knew that the pills she had previously sold had killed someone,” Smittcamp said.

That victory triggered Monday’s campaign. 50 billboards with the message, “You sell, Your cell, Murdered by fentanyl” will be placed strategically throughout Fresno County.

Smittcamp says the message is clear and simple.

“If they choose to participate in this behavior, the penalties are going to be stiff. We are going to find you. We are going to prosecute you. And you could face 15 to life if you continue to sell this,” Smittcamp explained.

Fresno Police Chief Mindy Casto shares how her officers are seeing new ways fentanyl is being distributed.

“It’s in everything. It’s not just the little blue pills. It’s used in weed. Just your common weed, in a joint, can contain fentanyl because it’s such a cheap high,” Casto said.

Casto says they respond to thousands of fentanyl-related calls every year. Just this past weekend, they responded to adults using drugs with a baby inside a car.

“They were smoking meth, which was in the end laced with fentanyl because the baby tested positive for fentanyl. And this baby has no choice. Her mom was there, her dad, several other relatives, and they chose to forgo her safety and use these kinds of narcotics around that child. When she was taken to the hospital, it was also found that she had a skull fracture. So she is one of the other victims of fentanyl that the parents are more engaged with their addiction than caring for their children,” Casto said.

Thankfully, the baby survived. But Casto says they are going to keep fighting for families and children affected by the terrors of fentanyl.