A week away from graduating from Belle Chasse High School back in May 2021, Hailey Deickman’s life was cut short.
“This is the tragedy we’re seeing much too often,” said Plaquemines Parish District Attorney Charles Ballay.
Ballay says Deickman, 18, bought what she thought was a Percocet. Instead was a fake pill that had fentanyl in it. Four days after being hospitalized, Deickman died. Three days later, the man accused of selling her that pill, Franklin Senfles of Gretna, was charged with second-degree murder.
“People many times are not thinking of the consequences of how these people, drug dealers, are only out to make the bucks,” said Ballay.
In a community shocked by Deickman’s death, Ballay says this case became a priority. Tuesday, Senfles pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years.
Brad Byerley, Special Agent in charge with the New Orleans office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, says four out of ten fake pills have a lethal dose of fentanyl. According to the DEA, just two milligrams can kill you.
“It’s so important when we see these kinds of sentences come down,” said Byerley.
“Last year alone we lost over 108,000 people to drug overdose. Seventy percent of those are from an opioid and 67 percent can be attributed to a synthetic opioid like fentanyl like what was found in the pills we’re discussing right now,” said Byerley.
Byerley says fake pills can constantly change, mostly driven by Mexican drug cartels. He says all can have deadly outcomes.
“It’s scary, this stuff on the street because it’s unregulated. You don’t know what it is,” said Byerley. “Now social media is the place where the drug traffickers prey upon our community.”
Authorities say Senfles used Snapchat to link up with teens to sell pills. A week before Deickman’s death Ballay says Senfles was hospitalized for signs of a fentanyl overdose after taking a pill from the same batch he sold Deickman. Ballay says that was a key part of this case.
“So, he knew about it,” said Ballay. “He certainly knew that it was in his stash.”
With plans to attend UNO last Fall, Deickman never got to see college. That’s a tragedy DA’s and the DEA are working to stop from happening again.
“Folks like this, selling drugs with fentanyl, you’re going to serve time especially here in Plaquemines Parish.
Authorities say a friend of Deickman’s also bought a pill from the same man. She was also hospitalized but survived. According to the DEA, the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 and 45 is drug overdose.
“Don’t take a pill that wasn’t prescribed to you by your doctor,” said Byerley.