An illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who was deported from the United States in 2016 is facing murder charges after selling fentanyl pills to a 45-year-old man in Las Vegas, Nevada, that resulted in his death.
Jorge Miranda, a 46-year-old illegal immigrant from Ecuador, Indicted He was convicted by a Clark County grand jury last month of second-degree murder, carrying a concealed firearm, trafficking in a controlled substance, sale of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm by a person carrying prohibited items.
According to the Las Vegas Police Department (LVMPD), Miranda sold fentanyl pills to the 45-year-old victim in February, who later ingested them and died of an overdose. At the time of the alleged murder, Miranda had two outstanding warrants for his arrest, one for a drug charge and one for a traffic violation.
That month, Louisiana State Police detectives executed a search warrant at Miranda’s residence and found more than 174 grams of M-30 fentanyl pills, more than 243 grams of cocaine, four firearms and approximately $20,000 in cash.
After the victim overdosed on fentanyl pills, LVMPD detectives said Miranda met with an undercover officer, armed with a firearm, and sold him 20 fentanyl pills for $400.
Miranda first entered the United States in May 1988 on a temporary visa via Los Angeles, California, but eventually overstayed his visa and became an illegal immigrant. In February 1997, he was convicted of robbery and petty theft in Las Vegas and spent about five months in prison.
In 1998, Miranda was convicted of grand larceny in Las Vegas. In 1999, he was again arrested by the Las Vegas Police Department. He has been arrested a total of six times by the Las Vegas Police Department since 1997.
In April 2016, he was arrested in Las Vegas for marijuana possession, driving without a license, and speeding. The following month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents deported Miranda to his native Ecuador.
Between his deportation and early 2019, he successfully crossed the U.S.-Mexico border again and ended up in Las Vegas. After his arrest on murder charges, ICE agents served him with a detention order calling for him to be held if released at any time.
Miranda remains in the Clark County Detention Center on $250,000 bail.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter. here.
