DENVER (KDVR) — Denver Police have made an arrest in a deadly drug deal. Ramon Junior Quintana, 40, is accused of providing fentanyl to a man last year that killed him, and court documents show Quintana has been arrested 79 times for other offenses.
Quintana is now being held on charges of manslaughter and distribution of a controlled substance. The controlled substance is fentanyl, which is running rampant nationwide and in Colorado. According to the FOX31 Data Desk, the statewide rate of fentanyl overdoses spiked 69% from 2020 to 2021.
In February, DPD announced the Fentanyl Investigations Team to address the health crisis. The team is comprised of one sergeant and five detectives who focus on intercepting distribution networks, reducing supply and cracking down on dealers.
According to DPD, the department and the Front Range Task Force recovered 91,990 grams, or just over 200 pounds, of fentanyl in Denver from 2020 to 2022.
On May 8, 2022, DPD officers were called to a restaurant in the 1100 block of North Broadway and found a man unresponsive in the bathroom, and he was pronounced dead. Investigators report they found foil with burn marks and two small blue pills under the victim’s body.
Court records show the victim’s death was caused by fentanyl and a low level of alcohol. Documents state Quintana and the victim exchanged text messages about the fentanyl transaction, Quintana delivered the drug in Longmont and the victim ingested it in Denver.
Suspect in fentanyl death was in halfway house
Investigators say at the time of the time, Quintana was arrested no less than 79 times and was residing in a halfway house as part of a sentence for a domestic violence conviction.
The FOX31 Problem Solvers did some digging and found Quintana’s lengthy Colorado criminal history, which is 30 pages long and spans from the year 2000 to Friday, March 24, when he was picked up for homicide. The 40-year-old is no stranger to the criminal justice system with arrests over the years in Denver, Longmont, Broomfield, Thornton, Greeley, Aurora, Johnstown, Boulder and Adams, Weld and Larimer counties. Some of the offenses include drugs, harassment, trespassing, domestic violence, property crimes and more.
FOX31 legal analyst Christopher Decker said an arrest is only grounds for probable cause. It’s important to note that a majority of the charges were dismissed and did not result in a conviction.
“It is a large number of arrests and certainly suspicious, but in my line of work, as a criminal defense attorney, it’s not shocking,” Decker said. “The alleged drug deal being carried out while in a halfway house makes you wonder about supervision and will influence a judge’s decision on bond and could aggravate a possible sentence if there’s a conviction.”
Quintana is being held on investigation of manslaughter, as well as distribution of a controlled substance. The final determination of charges will be made by the Denver District Attorney’s office.
DPD is thanking the Longmont Police Department and Lafayette Police Department for their assistance in the case.
