Man sentenced to 28 years for fentanyl sale that led to overdose

The leader of a drug conspiracy in Versailles was sentenced Wednesday to 28 years in federal prison for distributing fentanyl that resulted in the overdose death of a Woodford County woman.

Luis Aguirre-Jerardo, 29, of Versailles admitted he sold a pill in 2015 to drug dealer Gill Dewayne Garrett of Lexington, who in turn sold it to Versailles resident Jolene Bowman.

Bowman, 37, died after injecting the pill in a bathroom stall of the business where she worked.

Aguirre marked the pill to look like oxycodone, a much-prescribed painkiller.

However, it contained fentanyl, which is 40 to 50 times as strong as street-level heroin. Bowman did not know the strength of the drug she was getting, said her sister, Jennifer Powell, in a news conference last year.

Garrett is serving a 20 year sentence. Aguirre-Jerardo pleaded guilty last year.

Under federal law, Aguirre-Jerardo must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence. Upon his release, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years.

This story was originally published August 16, 2017 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Man sentenced to 28 years for fentanyl sale that led to overdose."