South Bay Man Who Sold Fatal Dose Of Fentanyl Sentenced

REDONDO BEACH, CA — A South Bay man who admitted to selling a dose of fentanyl that killed a customer has been sentenced to just over 10 years in federal prison, the United States Attorney's Office told Patch.

Redondo Beach resident Marcus Michael Takaya Poydras, 36, pleaded guilty in May to one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Federal prosecutors say Poydras sold about 90 pills to a drug dealer in 2020, and claimed they were pure oxycodone. But the pills had been cut with fentanyl, according to authorities.

A drug dealer then sold 20 of those pills to a customer in the parking lot of a Marina del Rey mall, according to federal prosecutors.

The customer later took some of the pills and died of an overdose, federal prosecutors said.

As part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, the 36-year-old South Bay man admitted to knowingly possessing various drugs, including cocaine, and a firearm with a scratched-out serial number, according to the United States Attorney's Office.

He also admitted to possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl, according to federal prosecutors.

Poydras faced a maximum of 20 years in federal prison at sentencing. It's unclear whether his reduced sentence was part of the plea agreement.