Oct. 29 (UPI) — The owner of a Bronx, New York, day care center where four children under her supervision suffered fentanyl poisoning last year, including a 1-year-old who died, pleaded guilty Tuesday to selling the powerful and dangerous drug at the center.

The 37-year-old woman, Grei Mendez, admitted in court Tuesday to conspiring to retain and distribute large quantities of fentanyl from the Bronx daycare, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.

“Mendez’s reprehensible conduct resulted in the tragic and unnecessary death of one child and the poisoning of three others,” Williams said in a statement.

“From the beginning, this case has demonstrated the senseless collateral damage caused by the fentanyl epidemic and should remind us all that the demand for illegal narcotics often puts innocent bystanders at risk, while drug traffickers ruthlessly pursue their profits. “.

Mendez pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious bodily injury, possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in serious bodily injury.

The charges carry a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors accused she and her husband, Félix Herrera García, from running a drug operation from their Divino Niño daycare in the Bronx. He was sentenced to 45 years in prison on October 16, after pleading guilty in June.

According to federal prosecutors, the couple distributed narcotics from the daycare from October 2022 until the afternoon of September 15, 2023, when Mendez called police about three unresponsive children between the ages of 8 months and 2 years.

The children were rushed to the hospital where a 1-year-old boy died. The other two children were treated with Narcan, a treatment administered to counteract opioid overdoses. A fourth child, who had been picked up earlier from the center, was later taken to the hospital.

Police searched the premises and discovered 1 kilo of fentanyl inside a bag stacked on children’s play mats in a hallway closet. Additional drugs were also found under the floor of a trap, as well as tools used to distribute them.