Drug "several times" stronger than fentanyl linked to California overdose death

The U.S. Department of Justice's Los Angeles office filed charges in what could be the nation's first death-resulting criminal case involving a synthetic opioid that is possibly more dangerous than fentanyl.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors announced the sole count of distribution of protonitazene resulting in death against 21-year-old Benjamin Anthony Collins, a resident of LA County. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted. The harshest possible punishment for this charge is life in prison. 

The Justice Department claims that Collins knowingly and intentionally sold the pills to a 22-year-old man on April 19, 2024, according to the indictment.