Florida Sentinel Bulletin

LESLIE PAGAN

A federal jury found a 40-year-old woman guilty of conspiracy to distribute over one kilogram of heroin and a quantity of fentanyl, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, and eight counts of distribution of heroin or fentanyl. She is facing a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years, and up to life, in federal prison.

Ms. Leslie Pagan had been indicted on August 27, 2020, along with Jackylin Bonifacio and Steven Echevarria. An indictment was filed on November 5, 2020.

Prior to trial, Bonifacio pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, and Echevarria pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute over one kilogram of heroin.

According to testimony presented at trial, from January 1, 2016, through September 1, 2020, Pagan, Echevarria, Bonifacio and others conspired to distribute heroin. Bonifacio distributed heroin she had received from Pagan and Echevarria to heroin users in Hillsborough County.

Echevarria initially controlled the supply he obtained from another co-conspirator, but when Echevarria was incarcerated in 2017, Pagan took over that role and distributed the heroin to Bonifacio.

On December 19, 2019, Bonifacio distributed a substance to the victim. Bonifacio thought the substance was heroin, but it was actually fentanyl. When the victim used the fentanyl shortly after receiving it from Bonifacio, the victim collapsed and died.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office investigated the overdose death and identified Bonifacio as the person who had distributed the fentanyl to the victim. On December 20, 2019, Bonifacio was arrested and found in possession of 25 baggies of fentanyl, packaged for distribution.

A joint investigation led by the FBI identified Pagan as Bonifacio’s supplier. During a series of covert operations, Pagan distributed fentanyl and heroin to a confidential informant and received payments from that informant. Pagan was arrested on September 1, 2020, and investigators recovered 97 grams of fentanyl and over $105,000 in currency from her residence.