Kalev Kangro lay face down on the couch while his suspected drug dealer knocked on the front door. Investigators say Isaiah Delgado came with a second supply of cocaine for Kangro, unaware that the first had killed him earlier that day.
"Really hope ur ok bro," Delgado texted later. "I waited a long time and even knocked hard as hell and no one answered."
Delgado, 27, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and nearly two dozen drug charges on Thursday. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the murder charge they originally sought and recommended a penalty of 18 years in prison. Circuit Judge Sarah Willis sentenced him accordingly.
She also scheduled another hearing on Oct. 16 so Kangro's mother, unable to attend Thursday's hearing, can address the court.
Suspected dealer sold $7k worth of drugs to undercover investigator
Her son's fatal overdose would likely have been considered an accident had it happened years earlier. However, a trail of texts between him and his suspected dealer — as well as a push by Florida lawmakers to hold peddlers accountable for drug users' deaths — morphed it into something else.
Boynton Beach police officers charged Delgado with premeditated murder in July 2024 after identifying him as the man they believe sold Kangro the fatal dose. They pointed to the testimony of Kangro's wife, Laura Jimenez.
She said she watched Delgado sell her husband cocaine in the kitchen of their Boynton Beach apartment on Feb. 7, 2024, the day he was found dead. Investigators say the drug contained fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.
An undercover officer posing as a friend of Kangro arranged to meet with Delgado the following day to buy drugs. During their meeting, Delgado told the officer he'd sold Kangro drugs "for a while," and that Kangro sometimes took so much of it that he overdosed.
Delgado sold the officer $7,000 worth of cocaine over six months, according to his arrest report.
Of all dealers charged with first-degree murder, none has been convicted
Delgado, of Lantana, joins a growing list of Palm Beach County residents charged with murder in the wake of customer overdoses. Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg promised in 2018 to "aggressively charge drug dealers who spread deadly fentanyl-laced heroin" and subsequently indicted a handful of people on first-degree murder charges.
Prosecutors have yet to convict anyone this way, opting instead to resolve cases with plea deals to lesser offenses.
Calvin Warren Jr. was the first. Facing life in prison for the 2017 overdose of Travis Tekel, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder instead for a 22-year prison sentence.
Vicki Sakers was indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the 2017 overdose death of her friend Candace Moreland; she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to three years of probation.
So did Joreel Sine, who sold Sakers the drug. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for manslaughter in 2022.
Prosecutors indicted Jamel Roseau in 2021 on two counts of first-degree murder for the overdose deaths of Holland Harriss and Michael Edgell. He also pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Hannah Phillips covers public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Drug dealer who texted 'hope ur ok bro’ to dead customer gets prison
