Third defendant sentenced in fentanyl death of Santa Rosa man, baby

A third and final defendant was sentenced for their role in supplying fentanyl that killed a Santa Rosa man and his 13-month-old son in September 2019.

Leanna Zamora, 29, of Santa Rosa was sentenced to six years and five months in prison Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of California.

She will also serve three years of supervised release following her prison term.

Zamora’s sentencing came exactly one year after she pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and distribution of fentanyl resulting in serious bodily injury or death.

Other defendants were Santa Rosa residents Lindsay Williams and Shane Cratty, who pleaded guilty to charges of fentanyl sales earlier this year. They were sentenced in November to eight years and 7½ years in prison, respectively.

The drugs killed 29-year-old Patrick O’Neill and his son, Liam.

Prosecutors have said the deaths were not intentional but the defendants were held liable because there was enough opportunity to prevent the transaction that led to O’Neill and Liam dying.

According to court documents, Williams paid Zamora $125 for a gram of fentanyl on Sept. 13, 2019. The synthetic opioid, 100 times more potent than morphine, has been linked to an increase in overdose deaths both locally and nationally.

Williams gave the drugs to Cratty, who passed them to O’Neill, according to court records.

Investigators say O’Neill used fentanyl with friends before heading home with his son. His mother, Emily Guillory of Petaluma, said she believes Liam crawled out of bed that night and ingested fentanyl he found on the floor.

Guillory found them at O’Neill’s home on Darek Drive in Santa Rosa. Liam was pronounced dead at the scene and O’Neill died at a hospital on Sept. 16, 2019.

After Liam’s death and while O’Neill was in a hospital, Cratty gave an on-camera interview with KRON 4 TV in San Francisco and expressed sadness about his friend using drugs again. Cratty warned of fentanyl’s dangers and said he personally had saved dozens of people from overdosing.

The defendants were indicted on Dec. 12, 2019.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi