A 45-year-old Orlando man has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison, months after a federal jury found him guilty of conspiring to distribute fentanyl that led to a woman’s fatal overdose in 2022.
On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton sentenced Joel David Fonseca Flores to 32 years in federal prison for the fentanyl distribution charge that resulted in death, possessing with the intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, and possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
On June 27, 2024, federal jurors found Fonseca Flores guilty of the conspiracy resulting in death charge. Three weeks prior to the trial, Fonseca Flores pleaded guilty to the drug and firearm possession charges.
According to the evidence presented at trial, Fonseca Flores and his co-conspirator, 35-year-old Orlando resident Misty Lynn Parady, sold fake “M30” pills laced with fentanyl to a female victim. Over a two-year period, from April 2020 to April 2022, Fonseca Flores and Parady sold the victim pills that she, at first, believed to be oxycodone.
The victim eventually realized that the pills she was purchasing from Fonseca Flores and Parady contained fentanyl. On October 31, 2021, the victim sent a text message to Parady warning that she had tested positive for fentanyl, and Parady relayed that information to Fonseca Flores.
On March 31, 2022, within days of purchasing more “M30” pills from Fonseca Flores, the victim sent another text message to Parady. In that message, the victim included a photo of her drug test, which showed that she had tested negative for oxycodone and positive for fentanyl.
Despite the victim’s warnings, Fonseca Flores and Parady continued to sell the victim the counterfeit fentanyl pills. On April 4, 2022, the victim died from a fentanyl overdose.
On October 3, 2022, a traffic stop was conducted on a car belonging to Fonseca Flores and Parady. During a search of that vehicle, officers seized fake “M30” pills, and further testing revealed that the pills contained fentanyl
Inside the car, officers also found cocaine, a digital scale, baggies, and hundreds of dollars in cash. Fonseca Flores, who is a convicted felon, also had a firearm in his possession.
On April 4, 2024, Fonseca Flores and Parady were arrested by law enforcement officers following the execution of a search warrant at their home in Orlando. During that search, officers found three firearms, ammunition, counterfeit fentanyl pills, additional unspecified drugs, cash, and drug paraphernalia.
The following month, Parady pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl and possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine. In August of 2024, she was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Orlando Police Department’s Overdose Unit. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kara M. Wick, Stephanie McNeff, and Michael P. Felicetta.
“Cases like this reinforce drug traffickers care only about profit and driving addiction,” said Special Agent in Charge Deanne L. Reuter, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division. “DEA will pursue drug traffickers with everything we have to make our communities safe and healthy.”