Drug dealer sentenced to prison after Portland teen’s deadly ‘M30’ fentanyl overdose

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A man from Mexico has been sentenced for his role in a Portland teenager’s overdose death, officials announced Monday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon said 27-year-old Manuel Antonio Souza Espinoza, a man from Mexico who had been unlawfully living in Portland, was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison with three years of supervised release on Monday for distributing fentanyl that led to the death of a Portland teen, along with possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, the investigation that led to Espinoza’s arrest started after the overdose of the teen on March 7, 2022.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the teen took a counterfeit “M30” Oxycodone pill that was laced with fentanyl.

Investigators learned that Espinoza – a “known, high-volume Portland area drug dealer,” was the third-level supplier of the pills.

Later, on March 31, 2022, investigators arranged for an informant to buy 1,000 pills from Espinoza. When he arrived, Espinoza was immediately arrested on federal charges, officials said, noting law enforcement found the pills in his vehicle along with a loaded .40 caliber handgun with an extended magazine.

On April 21, a federal grand jury in Portland returned a two-count indictment, charging Espinoza with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Espinoza pleaded guilty on March 5, 2025, to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

As part of his plea deal, Espinoza admitted that the counterfeit pill he sold to the teen led to the deadly fentanyl poisoning of the victim.