Recruits stand at attention in November 2022 during a graduation ceremony at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill. (U.S. Navy )
Two sailors pleaded guilty to providing a lethal dose of fentanyl to a fellow sailor at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill., and were sentenced to years in prison, according to the Navy.
Seaman Brandon R. Ledesma pleaded guilty last month to negligent homicide, obstruction of justice and distributing fentanyl to another sailor who died of an overdose Nov. 6, 2021, the Navy said in a statement and court documents. The name of the victim was redacted in the charge sheet for Ledesma, who was sentenced to 28 months in the brig, reduction in rank to E-1 and a dishonorable discharge.
Seaman Recruit Caleb J. Taper pleaded guilty in a Sept. 15 court-martial to accessory after the fact, breaking restrictions, failure to obey an order, nine counts of possession of illegal drugs and larceny, according to the Navy. He was sentenced to 37 months in the brig, total forfeiture of pay and dishonorable discharge.
Taper’s conviction included possession of fentanyl, cocaine and delta-9, according to court records. His larceny conviction stemmed from stealing more than $150 worth of video games and a teeth-whitening pen from an on-base store Feb. 8.
At the time of the 2021 death, Ledesma and Taper were assigned to Naval Station Great Lakes and awaiting orders to attend Naval Submarine School in Groton, Conn., according to Katie Hewett, spokeswoman for Navy Region Mid-Atlantic. The three sailors were in training together and lived in the same barracks building.
A brief narrative included in court documents stated Ledesma and Taper provided the victim with fentanyl, and the sailor collapsed after ingesting it. Neither sailor called emergency services. Instead, they moved the third sailor from one location on the base to a bed within the same building because they feared criminal charges, according to the charge sheets.
The location where the incident occurred was redacted from the charge sheets.
Nearly a year ago, another sailor involved in the case was sentenced to three months in the brig, the Navy said. Seaman Apprentice Samuel Quan pleaded guilty Nov. 9, 2022, to failing to obey an order, violating a general order and unauthorized use of a military pass. He was reduced in rank to E-1 and fined $10,000.
Fentanyl, an approved pain medication being produced and sold illegally, has become a bigger factor in the military overdose deaths in recent years — a trend mirrored in the civilian population. The drug was involved in 88% of military overdose deaths in 2021, according to Defense Department data provided to Congress earlier this year. Five years earlier, fentanyl was only involved in 36% of overdose deaths.
The drug killed nearly 70,000 Americans in 2021, according to the National Safety Council, a nonprofit safety advocacy group that tracks preventable deaths and injuries.
