The Harris County (Texas) District Attorney’s Office announced Friday that Stuart Mouchantaf, 25, sold an opioid to Padgett that led to his death. According to a news release, Padgett believed he was buying Hydrocodone (more commonly known as vicodin), but he was instead given Carfentanil — an opioid that has been used as an elephant tranquilizer and is 5,000 times as potent as heroin.
“Users better beware that even a spec of this drug can kill you,” Harris County DA Kim Ogg said in a statement. “And dealers, you are on notice that if your product kills people, you will be prosecuted for causing a death, not just dealing drugs.”
Mouchantaf is being charged with “delivery of a controlled substance causing death” and could face between five and 99 years in prison if found guilty. He was being held on $250,000 bond as of Friday morning, according to jail records, and is due to make his initial court appearance Monday. Online records did not indicate whether Mouchantaf had obtained a lawyer.
Padgett, a junior defensive end at Rice, was found dead in his apartment on March 2after he did not show up for a workout. He was 21 years old.
Mouchantaf and Padgett played together at Rice in 2015, when the former was a redshirt senior and the latter was a true freshman. Mouchantaf recorded 51 tackles over three seasons at the school, while Padgett was viewed as a key player on the Owls’ defensive line prior to his death.
“Don’t go a day without telling your kids and your parents, and your brothers, sisters that you love them, because you never know,” Padgett’s mother, Wyndi, told KTRK-TV in Houston earlier this week. “Also, make good choices, you know, and be informed because I think Blain knew about choices like drinking and driving, but I think this is something that’s fairly new, at least it’s new to us. But don’t take anything from anyone unless a doctor has prescribed it for you. Period. You don’t know what’s in it.”
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
Article Appeared @https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2018/10/05/rice-football-stuart-mouchantaf-charged-teammate-opioid-death-blain-padgett/1533405002/