A former first responder employed at a Long Beach hospital has received a sentencing of over 29 years behind bars for his involvement in selling fentanyl. Shockingly, two of his co-workers unknowingly purchased what they believed to be cocaine, but was actually fentanyl. Tragically, one of the co-workers ingested the lethal opioid and passed away due to an overdose.
Meet Cruz Noel Quintero, a 43-year-old resident of Long Beach. He faced U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder, who not only sentenced him but also scheduled a restitution hearing for September 6th, as confirmed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
After a six-day trial in September, a jury found Quintero guilty of several charges, including distributing fentanyl resulting in death, possessing machine guns, possessing unregistered firearms, maintaining a drug-involved premises, and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
According to evidence presented in Los Angeles federal court, Quintero began his drug distribution operation around February 2018. While working as an emergency medical technician at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, he shipped cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs across the country. Additionally, he distributed drugs within the local area, using a Long Beach residence as his base of operations.
In May 2019, Quintero sold what he claimed to be cocaine for $100 to a hospital colleague in the parking lot outside the emergency room. Unfortunately, the substance turned out to be fentanyl. The following morning, the colleague and her partner unknowingly consumed the lethal powder, causing both of them to lose consciousness. Tragically, one of them, identified as S.F., died from fentanyl toxicity.
Forensic toxicologists confirmed that the only drug detected in S.F.’s blood was fentanyl. The medical examiner and medical toxicologist also attested that the cause of death was fentanyl toxicity.
Upon discovering that Quintero was responsible for the fatal dose, law enforcement conducted searches in two Long Beach residences. Shockingly, they uncovered Quintero’s illicit drug-trafficking operation along with an arsenal of firearms. The searches yielded 13 firearms, including two machine guns, two short-barreled assault rifles, and nine other guns – some of which were loaded.
One of Quintero’s residences, which served as his operational base, was filled with drug paraphernalia related to trafficking. Authorities discovered over 10 pounds of cutting agents used to dilute the drugs he sold, as well as a hydraulic press utilized for manufacturing multi-pound bricks of cocaine.
Trial testimony revealed that Quintero also engaged in shipping multi-pound quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to drug traffickers in Minnesota. This resulted in numerous complaints about the poor quality of his products.
Quintero has been in custody since his arrest shortly after the fatal overdose in May 2019.
Judge Snyder sentenced Quintero to a total of 352 months in federal prison. This includes 292 months for the fentanyl death count, 120 months for the firearms counts, and 240 months for maintaining a drug premises count. All of these sentences will run concurrently with each other.
Finally, Quintero received an additional 60-month sentence for possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, which will run consecutively to the other counts, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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