LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – A circuit judge Friday sentenced a 27-year-old man to life in prison without the possibility of parole for distributing fentanyl that killed a man.
Kevin R. Richardson, 27, was sentenced by Circuit Judge James Baxley for the July 17, 2021, death of 28-year-old Pavel Jesus Mata.
Sheriff’s deputies found Mata unconscious in his car Sarah’s Place Apartments in Clermont
After speaking with Mata’s mother and girlfriend, detectives learned that Mata was attempting to meet with a man named Kevin, who also lived in the apartment complex.
An examination of Mata’s phone turned up text messages about buying narcotics. Investigators also viewed security camera footage showing Richardson arriving at the parking lot in his car, according to court documents.
Richardson admitted meeting with Mata and providing him with a Percocet. Fentanyl is sometimes pressed into a form that resembles a legitimate prescription pill.
“Mata looked like he needed medical attention,” Richardson told investigators, and he offered to help but Mata supposedly refused. “…Richardson would ultimately depart the scene leaving his friend overdosing and dying.”