Two Tampa men were sentenced to federal prison Tuesday for their roles in a drug trafficking operation that supplied the fentanyl that killed a University of South Florida student.
Miguel Cintron, 38, was sentenced to life in prison and Darrius Gustafson, 23, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
A federal jury found both men guilty in May in the death of USF freshman Patrick Connolly, who died in 2024 after taking pressed pills he believed were Percocet. The pills contained fentanyl.
“Patrick Connolly, by all accounts, was a good kid,” U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Gregory Kehoe said at a news conference Friday. “He was 18 years old, making mistakes that all 18-year-olds might make.”
Connolly was an Eagle Scout who was engaged in his studies, enjoyed music and was close with his family, Kehoe said. He was found unresponsive in his dorm room on the USF Tampa campus on Feb. 16, 2024.
His mother, Amy Connolly, was present at the press conference Friday, but declined to speak with the media.
The Tampa Bay Times reported, during Wednesday's sentencing, she told the judge her family’s whole world was upended.
“I would give up my soul if I could change the choices he made,” she said.
READ MORE: Four are indicted after a USF student overdosed on fentanyl
Shortly after Connolly's death, investigators from the USF Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office began tracing where the pills came from.
Kehoe said the investigation eventually uncovered a drug trafficking organization that continued selling fentanyl even after the death.
Gustafson, who knew Connolly through USF, was identified as the person who sold him the pills. Investigators later connected Gustafson to other members of the organization, with Cintron identified as being at the top of the supply chain.
Officials said the investigation led to a search of Cintron’s Tampa home in April 2024. Authorities recovered more than seven kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and other drugs, along with firearms and more than $200,000 in cash, according to federal prosecutors.
Over 2,200 pressed fentanyl pills were ultimately seized during the operation, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Colonel Nikki Bosley said.
“One pill can kill,” Bosley said at the news conference. “Not a handful, not a habit, just one pill.”
Two other defendants, David Chudhabuddhi and Marquis Trant, previously pleaded guilty in the case. Chudhabuddhi was sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison, while Trant received 12 years and seven months.
Law enforcement emphasizes awareness
Law enforcement took the opportunity to warn about the risks of counterfeit pills and fentanyl, particularly for young people.
Larry McKinnon, a public information officer with USFPD, said fentanyl can be present in counterfeit pills without the person taking them knowing it.
“A pill obtained from a friend, purchased through social media, or acquired from an unregulated source may look legitimate,” McKinnon said. “But you cannot determine what is actually in that pill by simply looking at it.”
He urged students and families to only take medication prescribed specifically for them and obtained from a regulated source, such as a licensed pharmacy.
Kehoe added the danger extends beyond people who knowingly use fentanyl. He said the number of fentanyl-related deaths nationwide remains high despite a recent decline.
From January through June 2025, 1,330 deaths in Florida involved fentanyl, according to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission’s Drugs in Deceased Persons interim report.
In the Tampa medical examiner's district, fentanyl was present in 81 deaths during that period, including 77 deaths where fentanyl was listed as a cause and four where it was present but not listed as a cause.
Still, the report found fentanyl-caused deaths fell 46%, continuing a decrease in overdose deaths.
Officials also emphasized that preventing fentanyl deaths cannot be left to police and prosecutors alone.
Kehoe said parents, educators and community members need to have conversations with young people about the risks of illicit drugs. Those conversations, he said, can happen at home, at school, on athletic fields or in religious communities.
“We can't do it alone,” Kehoe said. “We need the help of the community.”
For USF, that message is especially relevant following Connolly’s death.
McKinnon said the university’s responsibility extends beyond responding to crimes and identifying threats, but also to educating students and working with other law enforcement agencies to prevent such tragedies.
“One pill, one decision, one time can have irreversible consequences,” he said.
