SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Officials say a San Antonio fentanyl dealer pleaded guilty in federal court and claimed responsibility for the death of a woman.
Court documents show that 28-year-old Patrick James Hall is charged with distribution of fentanyl resulting in the death of a 20-year-old woman.
The documents state that Hall and the woman met on October 28, 2020, in a hotel room where Hall had been selling the drug in the form of a small round blue pill disguised as oxycodone.
Phone records indicate that the victim had been unconscious in Hall’s hotel room for an extended period before Hall returned a missed call to the victim’s friend using the victim's cell phone.
Hall notified the friend that she needed to pick up the victim from the hotel because she had overdosed. He then left the location without calling for emergency services.
The victim’s friend, however, did alert emergency services and, upon their arrival, the victim was pronounced dead, noting she had been dead for some time.
A toxicology report showed that the victim had an amount of fentanyl in her blood that exceeded 24 times a fatal dose.
Hall was arrested on Nov. 19, 2020. Officials say text messages sent from his phone confirmed that he had been selling the pills to multiple individuals at the time of the victim’s death and that he himself had overdosed on the pills one week prior to this instance.
On March 15, 2023, Hall pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in death. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15 and faces a penalty of 20 years to life in prison.
A Federal District Court Judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.