DENVER — A Colorado Springs man who pleaded guilty to providing deadly fentanyl to a teen in 2021 has been sentenced to federal prison.
Nathaniel Corser, 23, was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in prison, which prosecutors said is the mandatory minimum. He pleaded guilty in August to distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.
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According to the plea agreement, on July 4, 2021, Corser met 19-year-old Kaeden Norlander at Cottonwood Creek Park in Colorado Springs for a drug deal they had arranged through text messages.
At the park, prosecutors said, Corser sold Norlander two blue pills that appeared to be prescription oxycodone pills but actually contained fentanyl.
Over the course of the next day, prosecutors said, the victim ingested both pills. Late in the morning on July 5, the victim’s aunt found him dead in his bedroom. An autopsy determined he died of fentanyl intoxication.
The office said after Norlander's death, "officers found text messages on his phone which appeared to relate to him buying the pills that killed him."
Police used that phone to communicate with the suspect and arranged to buy five pills from him, prosecutors said. After the transaction, police tested the pills and determined they contained fentanyl. Investigators also searched Corser's apartment and found hundreds of pills, prosecutors said.
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