United States v. Stevens, — F.Supp.3d — (2017) 2017 WL 888302 Only the Westlaw citation is currently available. United States District Court, D. Connecticut. UNITED STATES of America v. Christopher STEVENS, Defendant. No. 3:17—cr—00008 (JAM) Signed 03/06/2017 Attorneys and Law Firms Michael E. Runowicz, U.S. Attorney's Office, Ncw Haven, CT, for United States of America. Kelly M. Barrett, Federal Public Defender's Office, Paul F. Thomas, Duffy Law, LLC, Richard A. Reeve, Sheehan & Reeve, New Haven, CT, for Defendant. ORDER REJECTING GUILTY PLEA FOR FAILURE TO RESPECT THE CRIME VICTIM'S FAMILY Jeffrey Alker Meyer, United States District Judge *1 This cast involves the prosecution of a young man who distributed heroin that was lethally laced with fentanyl. The victim overdosed and died. The Government entered into a plea agreement with terms that were highly favorable to the defendant without first consulting about the agreement with the victim's surviving family. I will reject the plea agreement on the ground that the Government has not respected the rights and interests of the victim's family. BACKGROUND On the night of June 3, 2016, defendant Christopher Stevens arranged by text message to distribute heroin to a man in East Lyme, Connecticut. Shortly after 1:00 a.m., local police responded to a report of a car parked with its engine running just a short distance from the man's home. Inside the car police found the man and his 3-year-old son. The man was dead in the driver's scat from an overdose of heroin that had been laced with fentanyl. His 3-year-old child was fortunately unharmed. Law enforcement authorities later tracked the defendant down through the text messages found on the victim's phone. The defendant was arrested in July 2016, and he appeared before me more than six months later for the purpose of waiving indictment and entering a plea of guilty to a charge of distribution of heroin, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a) (1) a