GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A 16-year-old charged with delivering a fatal dose of drugs is no longer challenging having her case heard in adult court, while prosecutors have added more drug delivery charges.
Maylia Sotelo made an initial appearance Tuesday on the new charges, where a $100,000 cash bond was set. That’s in addition to the $150,000 cash bond she has been unable to post in her original case. Sotelo returns to court Jan. 5 for a preliminary hearing.
Sotelo is charged in adult court with first-degree reckless homicide for the December death of an 18-year-old man at a De Pere home. Sotelo was 15 at the time.
In Wisconsin, those ages 10 and older charged with certain homicide counts are prosecuted in adult court. The defense can ask for the case to be moved to juvenile court — known as a ‘reverse waiver’ — but such requests are not automatically granted.
Brown County Judge Beau Liegeois denied Sotelo’s request, keeping her in adult court. She appealed the decision, but voluntarily withdrew her request last week, court records show. She is scheduled to appear for a status conference Feb. 19, although that hearing could be moved up.
In the new case filed Tuesday, prosecutors added four charges: two counts of being party to the delivery of fentanyl, one for being party to delivery of marijuana, and one for possession of fentanyl with intent to deliver. The charges date from drugs sales on Nov. 29 and Dec. 6, 2002. Those were before and after the drug deal which resulted in the overdose, but before Sotelo was arrested and charged in the fatality.
According to the criminal complaint, police arranged undercover drug buys from Sotelo. It also cites messages on her phone arranging the drug deals as evidence of her dealings.
She is expected to make an initial court appearance Tuesday afternoon on the new charges.
In the criminal complaint for the overdose death case, prosecutors allege that on the morning of Dec. 3, 2022, the grandmother of the victim, identified only as J.D.M., called police when her grandson would not open the door.
First responders arrived at the home in De Pere. They knocked on the door of J.D.M.’s bedroom but did not hear a response. A paramedic forced the door open and noticed the 18-year-old was beyond help. Officers say the death seemed suspicious due to drug paraphernalia nearby. An autopsy confirmed that he had died from a fentanyl overdose.
The victim’s grandparents told first responders he had a history with drugs and had been to a rehab center in Minnesota earlier in the year, after he moved to Arizona for a short time before returning back to Wisconsin and living with his grandparents.
The victim’s mother met with a De Pere police officer to provide more evidence. She showed police conversations found on her son’s phone that they were able to trace to Sotelo, who sold him what she called a “bad batch” of Percocet.
Law enforcement then set up a “controlled buy” with Sotelo, then 15 years old, and arrested her.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Sotelo was found to be in possession of 775 fentanyl pills — 60% of which were lethal doses.
Sotelo told law enforcement she started smoking marijuana and then became addicted to Percocet. She said she did not want to sell but had to pay off a $500 debt to a person who gave her Percocet pills to sell.
