GREELEY, Colo. (KDVR) — The wife of a man suspected of dying from a fentanyl overdose was arrested after police found counterfeit pills in the house and in her possession.
On the morning of March 21, 36-year-old Amy Conradson found her 33-year-old husband unresponsive at a home in the 1500 block of 12th Avenue, Greeley Police said. Paramedics tried to save him but were unsuccessful.
The Weld County Drug Task Force was then called to the location, obtained warrants and found approximately 160 blue “M-30” counterfeit pills suspected of containing fentanyl, a small amount of heroin, and a loaded handgun during their search.
When officers searched Conradson while taking her into custody, they found “additional evidence of counterfeit blue M-30 pills in her possession.”
Court records show Conradson faces the following counts:
- 1 count of felony unlawful distribution of a Schedule I controlled substance
- 3 special offender counts for felony drug offense near a school, deadly weapon possession during a felony offense and firearm possession that poses risk to others
- 4 counts of misdemeanor child abuse
Police said the house is located in close proximity to Jefferson Junior High School.
She is a previous offender with an arrest in 2019 on charges of smuggling contraband into a prison and 2021 charges of dangerous drugs distribution/sale and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Commander Scott Smith at 970-351-5211.
What lawmakers are doing about fentanyl crisis
Colorado lawmakers have a bill in play to step up enforcement against fentanyl dealers whose drugs result in deaths. There were 709 fentanyl-related deaths in Colorado last year, a tenfold increase since 2015.
The bill makes the unlawful possession of any material, compound, mixture, or preparation that weighs more than 4 grams and contains any amount of fentanyl, carfentanil or an analog thereof, a level-four drug felony.
“We’re almost at three Coloradans a day who die from a fentanyl overdose. Treating this thing like it’s marijuana, or treating it like it’s a speeding ticket, is offensive to the value of human life,” former District Attorney George Brauchler, who is now a CSI Criminal Justice Fellow said on a virtual roundtable meeting Monday.
“Fentanyl kills, period, more than any other drug that we have seen in a long time. If we don’t start treating it like the killer it is, it will continue to kill in greater and greater numbers,” he said.
Brauchler and former Denver DA Mitch Morrissey, who is also a CSI Criminal Justice Fellow, want stricter laws.
More than 150 people signed up to testify Tuesday as a bill to combat the Colorado fentanyl crisis debuted for its first committee hearing.
The Fentanyl Accountability and Prevention Act hearing began Tuesday afternoon and lasted for hours with a large number of witnesses signed up to speak.