St. Pete Man Guilty In 2021 Fentanyl Death: U.S. Department Of Justice

TAMPA, FL — A St. Petersburg man was found guilty of charges related to a 2021 fentanyl-related death, according to the U.S. Department of Justice news release.

A federal jury found Kevon Jackasal, 34, guilty of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute it.

He faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 20 years up to life in federal prison. He was indicted on the charges on June 28, 2022, and his sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 19.

A series of text messages show that Jackasal sold fentanyl to the victim, who lived in Pinellas County at the time, multiple times between July and October 2020, the DOJ said.

In October 2020, the victim told him that she had violated her probation and would be going to jail. When she was released from jail on May 9, 2021, she moved to Tampa

Starting on May 25, 2021, the victim began texting several people looking for drugs. In one text to another person, she asked for fentanyl.

When she couldn’t find fentanyl through other sources, she texted Jackasal, telling him she was out of jail and sent him an address. Indicating that she had cash, she texted him “$$,” though she didn’t specify she wanted fentanyl. Based on their previous text history, “it was apparent” that he knew she wanted the drug, the DOJ said.

Text messages show that Jackasal delivered a substance to the victim just after 1 a.m. on May 26, 2021.

Her roommates found her dead that afternoon around 1:25 p.m., the agency said. Evidence showed that she died of a fentanyl overdose.

By reviewing the victim’s text message history, they determined that her contact listed as “Neg York” — later identified as Jackasal — was the likely person who had delivered the fentanyl to her.

Investigators lured the seller back to the victim’s home by texting the number listed for “Neg York” and asking for the “same as yesterday,” the DOJ said.

Jackasal was arrested when he arrived at her home. Investigators found a plastic bag of fentanyl inside a cigarette box in his car. DNA evidence on the cigarette box matched him.

Laboratory analysis confirmed that the substance in the cigarette box was fentanyl. A small amount of the drug was also found in a baggie in the victim’s bedroom.

Despite differences in color and compounds between the fentanyl mixtures in the cigarette box and in the victim’s bedroom, as well as differences in packaging, “the evidence from the cell phone made it clear that Jackasal was the only person who had agreed to bring her fentanyl the night before her overdose,” the DOJ said.