The Madera County District Attorney’s Office has secured the county’s first fentanyl-related homicide conviction, marking a milestone in efforts to hold drug dealers accountable for fatal overdoses, officials said in a statement on Tuesday.

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Jenisis Erik Knapp, who pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and the sale of fentanyl in the death of Robert John Fant, was sentenced Thursday, Feb. 13, to 11 years in state prison.

Prosecutors said Knapp sold Fant heroin laced with fentanyl on April 12, 2021.

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Fant ingested the drug, overdosed, and died. Despite knowing Fant’s cause of death, Knapp continued selling fentanyl in the community, officials said.

The Madera Police Department and the Madera Narcotics Enforcement Team were credited with investigating the case.

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Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is up to 100 times stronger than morphine and is often mixed into other illicit drugs, increasing the risk of fatal overdoses, officials said.

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