A man accused of supplying the fentanyl pill that led to the death of McDaniel High School sophomore Griffin Hoffmann unsuccessfully sought release Tuesday to a residential drug treatment program while he awaits trial.
Attorney Larry R. Roloff made the request for his client, Manuel Antonio Souza Espinoza, if a bed became available. A pretrial services officer supported the request.
While Roloff said he recognized how serious the charges are against Espinoza, he argued that the 24-year-old Vancouver resident has family ties to the community and can be monitored appropriately in residential treatment.
Hoffmann’s mother, Kerry Cohen, objected, saying the pill killed “our precious child.”
“For us, the idea of this man’s drug treatment is utterly irrelevant,” she told the judge after dialing into the hearing.
Souza Espinoza, described by a prosecutor in court records as a “merchant of death,” is suspected of being two people removed from a teen who delivered the drug to 16-year-old Hoffmann, according to prosecutors and Hoffmann’s parents and friends.
Souza Espinoza “sold counterfeit M30 Oxycodone pills to Person A, Person A then sold the pills to Person B, and Person B then sold the pill to the victim, who used the pill and tragically died,” Assistant U.S. Scott Kerin wrote to the court.
Hoffmann’s father found him unconscious at the desk in his bedroom on the morning of March 7. He had earbuds in and his laptop open to a TV series he had been watching. Hoffmann had gone out with friends the night before to see a movie at the Century 16 Eastport Plaza, his mother said.
Hoffmann had ingested a counterfeit M30 oxycodone pill, according to prosecutors. Autopsy results showed he died from the toxic effects of fentanyl, according to his family and prosecutors.
“This defendant should never be given the opportunity to be out on the streets and be given the opportunity to kill another child,” Kerin said. “Defendant was peddling fentanyl, and fentanyl kills. It’s that simple.”
Souza Espinoza has pleaded not guilty to charges of possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl, conspiring to distribute and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl resulting in death and possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime.
He also is the subject of a separate investigation into another death that awaits toxicology results, Kerin said.
He said Souza Espinoza has been dealing fentanyl since at least November and has used the online social media forum Snapchat to sell the drug. In November, Souza Espinoza was one of four people present when police raided a Gresham home with a search warrant and found more than 12,000 counterfeit M30 pills believed to be made with fentanyl, nine guns including two modified to fire fully automatic, cocaine, body armor and more than $35,000 in cash, according to Kerin. It’s unclear if Souza Espinoza was arrested at that time.
“This is not a smalltime drug dealer. He’s a big time drug dealer and he’s a danger to the community,” Kerin said. Souza Espinzoa could walk away from residential treatment if he chose to do so, Kerin said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew D. Hallman ordered Souza Espinoza to remain in custody pending trial, agreeing that residential treatment isn’t secure enough to ensure he won’t pose a danger to the community. Hallman said Souza Espinoza can seek treatment while in custody.
Souza Espinoza is being held at Multnomah County’s Inverness Jail.
Hoffmann was one of two Portland teenagers from McDaniel High School to die from the drug within 24 hours. Earlier this month, the Oregon Health Authority reported that unintentional fentanyl overdose deaths increased from 71 in 2019 to 509 in 2021, a 617% jump. Deaths involving fentanyl made up about 47.5% of total overdose deaths last year, compared to about 14% in 2019 and 32% in 2020, the state health authority found.
— Maxine Bernstein
Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com; 503-221-8212
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian
