Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that GREI MENDEZ was sentenced to 45 years in prison for trafficking fentanyl out of a daycare in the Bronx, New York, which resulted in the death of one child and the poisoning of three others. Mendez pled guilty on October 29, 2024, before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who imposed today’s sentence.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “Grei Mendez operated a daycare out of a basement apartment in the Bronx in which large quantities of deadly fentanyl were mixed, packaged, and stored. She put babies as young as eight months old directly in harm’s way as they slept, played, and ate in a room where over 11 kilograms of fentanyl was hidden underneath their feet, leading to the death of one child and the poisoning of others. No punishment can make up for a child lost, but today’s sentence sends the message that this Office and our law enforcement partners will work tirelessly to bring to justice anyone who uses children as a shield in the drug trade.”
According to the Complaint, the Indictment, and other documents in the public record:
From at least in or about June 2022 through September 2023, MENDEZ and others conspired to distribute narcotics out of Divino Niño Daycare in the Bronx. There, MENDEZ and her co-conspirators maintained more than 11 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin in secret compartments, or traps, located underneath the floor tiles in the playroom of the Daycare.
As a consequence of the drug conspiracy perpetrated by MENDEZ and her co-conspirators, on or about September 15, 2023, four children at the Daycare, all of whom were under three years of age, experienced the effects of poisoning from exposure to fentanyl. Three of the children were hospitalized. The fourth child, a 22-month-old boy, died.
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In addition to the prison term, MENDEZ, 37, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), the Southern District of New York Digital Forensic Unit, the Complex Analytical and Social Media Enhancement Team at the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”) New York Strike Force, and the U.S. Marshals Service (“USMS”). Mr. Podolsky also thanked the NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force of the USMS; the USMS Office of International Operations; the USMS for the Southern District of New York; the USMS for the Southern District of Texas; the USMS for the Southern District of California; the USMS Mexico Field Office; the USMS Investigative Operations Division; the DEA New York Strike Force; the DEA Regional Office in Allentown, Pennsylvania; the DEA Regional Office in McAllen, Texas; the DEA Regional Office in Mexico City, Mexico; the DEA Regional Office in Hermosillo, Mexico; the DEA Regional Office in Monterrey, Mexico; the DEA Special Operations Division; the NYPD 52nd Precinct’s Detective Squad; the NYPD Bronx Homicide Squad; the NYPD Laboratory; the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and Mexican Federal and State authorities.
This prosecution is part of an OCDETF operation . OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles criminal organizations using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. The OCDETF New York Strike Force provides for the establishment of permanent, multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The specific mission of the New York Strike Force is to target, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, reduce the illegal drug supply in the United States, and bring criminals to justice.
This case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maggie Lynaugh and Brandon C. Thompson, as well as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Karl P. Miller of the Office of the Bronx County District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, are in charge of the prosecution.
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