McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A Nevada man suspected of helping a woman commit suicide in Mexico in 2009 has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for trying to smuggle a powerful sedative into the United States.
Jeff Ostfeld of Las Vegas was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty last year to one count of importing a controlled substance. Authorities allege the 36-year-old Ostfeld bought pentobarbital in Mexico and intended to use it for assisted suicides. The drug is used in Texas executions.
Ostfeld was charged days after the ashes of 29-year-old Jennifer Yolanda Malone were spread in her home state of Oregon. She was found dead in a hotel room in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, near the border crossing where Ostfeld was stopped.
The judge said he sentenced Ostfeld on guidelines for voluntary manslaughter.
