Man sentenced to 20 years for fentanyl death of South Bay teen

LOS ANGELES - A Rolling Hills man was sentenced Friday to 20 years in federal prison for providing fentanyl-laced pills to a 15-year-old boy who ate them and died.

Alexander Declan Bell Wilson, 22, was convicted in May after a five-day trial of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Evidence showed Wilson sold five "percs," or fentanyl-laced pills, to 15-year-old Nathan Young-Nichols on May 14, 2020. 

Prosecutors said the teen believed the pills he bought were "authentic pharmaceutical pills that contained the opioid oxycodone."

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A jury in Los Angeles federal court heard that the teen posted a photo of the pills on his Snapchat social media account just before ingesting them late that night. 

In the early morning hours of May 15, 2020, Wilson and the victim argued on Snapchat about the proper way to ingest the pills, with Wilson telling the teen not to chew the pills. Wilson shared screenshots of the conversation with his Snapchat followers.

The teen was found dead in his bedroom the next morning by his grandmother. Investigators determined his death was due solely to fentanyl poisoning.