The third of four people charged in the overdose death of a woman who was visiting Miami for the Ultra Music Festival last year has agreed to a plea deal.
Carmen Lo pleaded guilty Tuesday to unlawful use of a communication device and was sentenced to five years of probation as part of the deal.
She had initially been charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in the death of 24-year-old Jenniha T. Le, who collapsed after taking MDMA, also known as Ecstasy or Molly, while attending the festival at Bayfront Park last year, authorities said.
The woman accused of selling the pill, 27-year-old Charlene Forti, is facing charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful use of a two-way communications device in the death of Le.
Miami-Dade State Attorney’s OfficeMiami-Dade State Attorney’s Office
Jenniha T. Le
Forti, of Coral Springs, is accused of selling the pill to Le’s partner, 25-year-old Hannah Le-Nguyen.
Le and Le-Nguyen had traveled to Miami from Georgia for the festival, and Forti allegedly gave the pill to 26-year-old An Tan Ly, who is accused of delivering it to Le-Nguyen, officials said.
Authorities said Lo had introduced Le-Nguyen and Forti.
Le-Nguyen and Ly had been charged with possession of a controlled substance but records showed both were given plea deals by prosecutors back in March which gave them both 5 years of probation.
At the time, Forti’s attorney, Richard Cooper, said the deals were done so they would testify against his client.
“The allegation is that my client gave pills to someone else who gave the pills to someone else, who gave the pills to someone else, and then that person died unfortunately,” Cooper said. “Under this law, which is preposterous, but under this law every single one of those people is equally as culpable as my client is alleged to be, and yet those guys got sweetheart deals, they’re out, they’re with their families and my client, a 27-year-old with zero criminal history, is in custody.”
Forti has pleaded not guilty and remains on house arrest while she awaits trial. Although she was indicted on first-degree murder prosecutors will not be seeking the death penalty.
The next hearing in her case is scheduled for Oct. 13.