Wyoming Supreme Court upholds Fuentes manslaughter conviction

Local family finds closure 

Earlier this month, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed a decision made by Park County District Court Judge Bill Simpson in 2024: Anthony Fuentes, 39, of Greybull, will continue to serve 15 to 20 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter after selling 25-year-old Jordan Jackson two counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, ultimately leading to his death. 

“For our family it means just, finally, closure,” said Brenda Armstrong, Jackson’s mother. Jackson was a graduate of Greybull High School and Cody resident at the time of his death.

The family has closely followed the case since its beginnings in Big Horn County in 2023. At that time, Fuentes was sentenced to three to five years in prison in Big Horn County District Court after pleading no contest to two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, two felony counts of delivery of a controlled substance and a high misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance.

Park County Attorney Jack Hatfield then brought a new set of charges against Fuentes: manslaughter and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance. In a plea deal, Fuentes entered an Alford plea on the manslaughter charge and prosecutors dropped the conspiracy charge. An Alford plea contends that the prosecution’s evidence would likely lead to a guilty verdict but maintains the defendant’s innocence. It is viewed as a guilty plea in the eyes of the court. 

That hearing ran 6.5 hours as around 40 victim impact statements were read from Jackson’s family, classmates, teachers and coaches. Fuentes apologized to Armstrong and their family. His attorney, Christine Cherni, asked the court for leniency. 

After receiving his sentence, Fuentes worked to withdraw his plea. Park County denied the request, and Fuentes appealed to the state Supreme Court, alleging that his counsel was inadequate. Ultimately, that appeal was rejected. 

Fuentes’s case is the first time a Wyoming resident has been charged and convicted on manslaughter charges in connection with a drug overdose. Armstrong commended Hatfield for his nerve in pursuing the charges. 

“I think for Wyoming, I hope that this does set a precedent that accountability matters in these cases, that they are taken seriously at every level, and that no other family has to go through what we had to as far as we had to go through it,” Armstrong said. 

Armstrong started the Facebook group “A Voice for Jordan” amidst her grief. It has grown into a place for families affected by drug deaths to be heard, citizens to learn about fentanyl and other drugs, and a sort of news exchange on incidents, legal happenings and progress made on drug charges. 

“You just think, ‘That’s not going to happen in my family, that’s not going to happen to happen to my kids.’ People don’t understand it can take one pill. It can take one time at a party. It can take a half a pill, like it did in Jordan’s case,” Armstrong said. 

Jackson’s picture has been added to the DEA’s digital Faces of Fentanyl memorial exhibit, an extension of their physical exhibit in Arlington, Va. National Fentanyl Awareness Day is April 29. 

“Fentanyl is poisoning communities across the country.  It’s the leading cause of death for adults ages 18 to 45.  It’s hidden in counterfeit pills, disguised as something safe.  But it’s anything but safe. Just 2 milligrams—smaller than a grain of salt—can kill,” the DEA memorial website reads. Victims of the drug commemorated on the page are as young as 11 minutes old. 

“We will never stop being a voice for Jordan, because his life was taken and he can’t be his own voice anymore,” Armstrong said.