EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — The Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office says that a woman has been sentenced to 28 years in prison after distributing fentanyl resulting in the death of her cellmate.
The district attorney's office says that Katriina Gibson was found guilty by a jury of smuggling fentanyl into the jail and distributing it to others and introducing contraband, which are both felony charges.
Gibson was charged after 44-year-old Renee Lowrance was found dead in their cell in January of 2023. Following an investigation, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office connected Gibson to the crime of distributing fentanyl to inmates in the jail.
On Wednesday, Judge Samuel Evig sentenced Gibson to a 28-year sentence.
"There is a point, Ms. Gibson where this is less about you and more about protecting people from you," said Judge Samuel Evig in court.
According to the Fourth Judicial District Attorney's Office, this is the most severe fentanyl-related sentencing in Colorado's history.
Just last year, two individuals from Colorado Springs were given the longest federal sentencing on charges of distributing fentanyl resulting in death.
In January of 2023, 23-year-old Nathanial Corser of Colorado Springs pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl-laced pills to 19-year-old Kaeden Norlander in July of 2021. Just days after the pills were sold toNorlander, he was found dead by a family member on July 5, 2021.
Months later, another federal judge would sentence a Colorado Springs woman to 20 years behind bars, as 28-year-old Alexis Nicole Wilkins was sentenced on May 11, 2023. Wilkins was found guilty of selling fentanyl to an underage student from Mitchell High School in 2021. The student was found overdosing during class and was taken to a hospital where they later died.
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