Fentanyl dealer sentenced to life in prison after drugs he sold led to 2 deaths in Pinellas Park
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Fentanyl-caused deaths in Florida increased more than 4,000% since 2010, according to the Florida Medical Examiner’s Office. Two of those deaths, the United States Attorney’s Office said, were from drugs Bobby Peterson distributed in Pinellas Park.
On Tuesday, a judge handed the 41-year-old St. Pete man two life sentences. U.S. Attorney Rodger Handberg talked about the case alongside the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Pinellas Park Police Department.
"On May 12, 2020, two single parents in their 30s who lived approximately a mile apart in Pinellas Park died within two hours of one another from fentanyl overdoses," Handberg said.
Courtesy: U.S. Attorney's Office
Handberg said 34-year-old Michael Glass and 32-year-old Lisa O’Neal didn’t know each other, but he said they died the same way: from fentanyl distributed by Peterson.
"The hard work of the Pinellas Park Police Department and the DEA, with the assistance of the FBI, has ensured that Peterson will never again have the opportunity to endanger anyone in this community again through his drug dealing," Handberg said.
Pinellas Park Police Chief Adam Geissenberger said the proximity of the two deaths raised the antennas of the detectives.
"They started to see some similarities between the cases, between the overdoses," Geissenberger said. "The investigation kind of took off from there."
Handberg said phone records show O’Neal had been buying opioids from Peterson since at least January 2020. They also show that she talked to him about buying drugs on May 12 of that year.
"They do not even know they are ingesting fentanyl," DEA Special Agent in Charge Deanne Reuter said. "Just like in this case, the victim believed they were buying and using heroin. Illicit fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin."
"A potentially lethal dose can fit on the tip of a pencil," Handberg said.
They said Glass thought he was getting heroin from friend Jacqueline Schneider, who told police she got the supply from Peterson.
"Schneider also told police that when she told Petersen that the victim had died, he expressed no remorse and instead responded, ‘they know what they're doing,’" Handberg said.
Peterson had several prior state felony convictions for narcotics offenses. He was released from prison in March 2019 for trafficking drugs, Handberg said.
"Peterson was indicted. After a federal trial, a jury convicted Peterson of three counts. They include conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in death, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, and distribution of fentanyl. With respect to the conspiracy count, the jury convicted Peterson of causing the death of the 34-year-old father of two, and acquitted him of causing the death of the 32-year-old single mother," Handberg said about this recent case.
Glass and O’Neal are two of too many deaths in Pinellas Park, the police chief said, and nationwide.
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"Between February of 2018 and June of 2023, the City of Pinellas Park experienced 727 opioid related overdoses, and of that, 96 people died, and that's just Pinellas Park proper – 15 square miles, 55,000 residents," Geissenberger said. "So, the problem is obviously pervasive," he said.
Schneider is also charged with distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. The judge sentenced her to eight years of probation for her testimony against Peterson.
Handberg says the most recent data shows the number of fentanyl caused deaths in Florida is down about seven percent, that’s 2023 compared to 20-22, and they’re working to continue that trend.
He said they’ve obtained indictments of some of the Chinese companies and people who supply the precursor chemicals that are used to manufacture the fentanyl. His office has also doubled the number of prosecutions for fentanyl over the past two fiscal years, and seized more than 80 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl in those cases.
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