GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Maylia Sotelo pleaded no contest on Friday to three fentanyl-related charges.
Judge Beau Liegeois subsequently found the 17-year-old guilty of all three charges, and scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 9.
The first charge, first-degree reckless homicide, as a party to a crime, carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Sotelo is now convicted in connection of the death of an 18-year-old De Pere man in December 2022. Prosecutors say overdosed on fentanyl-laced Percocet.
Sotelo's other two charges are manufacturing or delivering less than 10 grams of fentanyl, and possessing over 50 grams of fentanyl.
Two other charges against her were dismissed.
Police say Sotelo was 15 years old when she was arrested on the reckless homicide charge.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
Maylia Sotelo was just 15 years old when she was arrested for reckless homicide, after police say she was dealing fentanyl-laced Percocet that killed another teen.
She's now 17 years old — and was convicted of three felonies here at the Brown County courthouse.
"Ms. Sotelo, you're 17 years old right now, correct?" Judge Beau Liegeois asked.
"Yes, sir," Sotelo responded.
"And would you be in 10th grade right now, or 11th grade?"
"11th."
A criminal complaint states Sotelo was still in high school when she sold a Percocet pill to someone on Green Bay's west side in December of 2022
The person's boyfriend died from a fentanyl overdose that night, police say from taking that pill.
"The victim used the substance alleged to have been delivered by you, and died as a result of that use," Judge Liegeois said.
The complaint shows the victim's grandmother found him unconscious the next morning.
Sotelo was arrested a few days later during a controlled drug buy — and charged with reckless homicide.
Prosecutors added four drug-related charges in late 2023 — including possession of more than 50 grams of fentanyl.
She was found to be in possession of 775 fentanyl pills — 60% of which were lethal doses — according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"What is your plea?" Liegeois asked.
"No contest," Sotelo said.
A friend of the victim — who did not want to go on camera — tells me she was disappointed that Sotelo pled no contest instead of guilty.
The judge accepted her plea.
"I will find you guilty of those three offenses," Liegeois said.
And scheduled a sentencing hearing in July.
The reckless homicide charge and the possession of 50+ grams of fentanyl charge each carry a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
