{"id":1998510,"date":"2023-08-12T01:52:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-12T05:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-judge-orders-chinese-drug-cartel-pay-18-million-for-fentanyl-death-of-ohio-man\/"},"modified":"2023-08-12T01:55:46","modified_gmt":"2023-08-12T05:55:46","slug":"us-judge-orders-chinese-drug-cartel-pay-18-million-for-fentanyl-death-of-ohio-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-judge-orders-chinese-drug-cartel-pay-18-million-for-fentanyl-death-of-ohio-man\/","title":{"rendered":"US judge demands $18M payment from Chinese drug cartel for fatal fentanyl incident in Ohio."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fus-judge-orders-chinese-drug-cartel-pay-18-million-for-fentanyl-death-of-ohio-man%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1998510&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>A Landmark Ruling: Chinese Drug Cartel Ordered to Pay $18 Million in Fentanyl Overdose Case<\/h2>\n<p>A judge in a court in Ohio \u200bbroke \u2062new ground and employed a new tool in the U.S.\u2019s legal and government response to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-judge-orders-chinese-drug-cartel-pay-18-million-for-fentanyl-death-of-ohio-man\/\" title=\"US judge demands M payment from Chinese drug cartel for fatal fentanyl incident in Ohio.\">deadly illicit fentanyl\u2064 epidemic<\/a> with her Aug.\u200c 9 ruling that a Chinese drug\u2062 cartel pay $18\u200d million to the\u200c family of a\u200d man who fatally overdosed\u200c on the drug\u2064 that officials tracked back to the cartel.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas \u200b\u201cTommy\u201d Rauh was 37 years old and battling addiction when\u200d he injected a lethal combination of heroin laced with fentanyl,\u2063 a synthetic opioid, in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Rauh bought the drug from\u2062 an Akron dealer who purchased it \u2064from \u200dthe Zheng drug cartel. The dealer was sentenced to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related Stories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/bipartisan-lawmakers-ask-blinken-to-step-up-efforts-to-combat-flow-of-fentanyl-from-china-5445301\">Bipartisan Lawmakers Ask Blinken to Step\u200d Up Efforts to Combat Flow of Fentanyl From \u2063China<\/a> (8\/4\/2023)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/schumer-seeks-new-bipartisan-sanctions-against-china-over-fentanyl-5404759\">Schumer Seeks New Bipartisan Sanctions Against China over Fentanyl<\/a> (7\/17\/2023)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Mr. Rauh\u2019s father, James Rauh, \u2062filed the lawsuit \u2064in 2020 in Summit County Common Pleas Court in Akron, Ohio. Assisting the father in the \u2062lawsuit is the Cleveland-based international law firm Spangenberg Shipley &#038; Liber,\u2063 which is working on the case\u2062 on \u2062a contingency basis.<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, the U.S. \u2062Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/opa\/pr\/two-chinese-nationals-charged-operating-global-opioid-and-drug-manufacturing-conspiracy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">43-count indictment<\/a> against the \u200dZheng drug cartel.<\/p>\n<p>Also, that year, officials traveled\u200d to China to prosecute the Zhengs for murder. After\u200d a three-day trial in \u200da Chinese court, it took court officials 15 minutes to let the Zhengs go free.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Rauh started down the path\u2064 to the overdose that killed him by becoming addicted to the prescription painkillers he took to alleviate \u2064the pain he was suffering from dental work and a rollerblading accident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTommy was a wonderful man; he had great abilities, a wonderful\u2062 work ethic,\u201d said his father in an interview with Fox News. \u201cHe loved \u2062his family, loved his friends. Just a wonderful guy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The father explained\u2062 that his family is disposed to substance abuse and that \u201calcoholism runs in the family,\u2064 in some respect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u200daward broke down\u2062 into $15 million for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/judge-approves-83-million-settlement-for-victims-of-last-years-florida-condo-collapse\/\" title=\"Judge Approves  Million Settlement for Victims of Last Year\u2019s Florida Condo Collapse\">wrongful death claim<\/a>, $1 million for the survivorship\u2063 claim, and $2 million for punitive damages.<\/p>\n<p>Summit County Court Magistrate Judge Kandi S. O\u2019Connor, who handed down\u2063 the judgment, \u200dsaid that a higher amount for punitive \u2062damages was warranted, but Ohio law prevented her from awarding\u2064 any \u2062more in this area \u200cthan she did.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter a review of the testimony \u200cand evidence presented, this Court finds that Defendants\u2062 are responsible and liable for the \u2064wrongful \u200ddeath of Tommy Rauh. The Court further finds \u200bthat \u2062the \u200bDefendants acted with conscious disregard and malice for their actions in relation to the wrongful death of \u200dRauh.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>National Threat<\/h2>\n<p>Fentanyl overdoses\u2064 are the number one cause of death\u2063 among Americans aged 18 through 49.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This material is\u2062 being brought into the United States in large quantities and being saved and stored in specific areas,\u201d said James Rauh.\u2063 \u201cThis is \u200ba <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/state-dept-spox-largest-threat-to-u-s-national-security-are-u-s-cops\/\" title=\"State Dept Spox: \u2018Largest Threat to U.S. National Security are U.S. Cops\u2019\">national security threat<\/a> of epic \u200dproportions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While illicit fentanyl is shipped directly from China to the United States, most \u200dof\u2062 the drug is first \u2062made by cartels in Mexico from precursor ingredients originating from China.<\/p>\n<p>The destructive capacity of \u2062fentanyl, which \u2063comes in liquid \u2063and powdered form, results in large\u200c part from the drug being highly addictive and 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine.<\/p>\n<p>With\u2062 the potency being\u200b so high, even a\u200c few specks of powdered fentanyl are enough to kill. Ingesting 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be\u200c fatal, meaning 1 gram\u2014about the same as a paper clip\u2014could contain 500 lethal doses.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities estimated in 2018 that \u200dthe Zheng drug cartel was producing 18 metric\u200d tons \u200bof fentanyl a week.<\/p>\n<p>Because fentanyl is so addictive, and such a tiny amount is so powerful, which makes it easy to conceal, drug dealers \u200dmix\u2063 it into other drugs they sell\u2014including\u2063 cocaine, marijuana, meth, and heroin\u2014to\u200d get their customers\u2063 dependent and needing more which results in steady business,\u2064 from those who survive.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:640px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Mock sizing of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mexican-cartels-fentanyl-operations-benefit-from-migrant-border-crisis\/\" title=\"Mexican Cartels\u2019 Fentanyl Operations Benefit from Migrant Border Crisis\">potentially lethal dose<\/a> of fentanyl on April 1, 2022. \u200b(John Fredricks\/The Epoch Times)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Rauh family has channeled pain, anguish, and grief into combating the fentanyl scourge. The family founded <a href=\"http:\/\/www.familiesagainstfentanyl.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Families Against Fentanyl<\/a>, \u2064a nonprofit organization that pursues a national integrated campaign that includes\u2062 government affairs and filing \u200dof legislation, a petition, research, media relations, building an \u2064official coalition, and a billboard \u200ccampaign.<\/p>\n<p>Families Against Fentanyl and its work have been featured on many\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/6-campus-hate-crimes-that-turned-out-to-be-hoaxes\/\" title=\"6 Campus \u2018Hate Crimes\u2019 That Turned Out To Be Hoaxes\">national news outlets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Included in and\u2062 fundamental to the work of Families Against Fentanyl is an effort to get fentanyl officially recognized by the federal \u2064government \u200das a \u201cweapon of mass destruction,\u201d a designation that the \u200dorganization says will \u201cempower the U.S. to cut off the supply of this poison before\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A groundbreaking ruling in an Ohio court saw a judge utilize a new approach to combat the lethal fentanyl crisis. On August 9, the judge ordered a Chinese drug cartel to compensate the family of a man who died from a fatal overdose with $18 million. This marks a significant step in the US legal and government response to the epidemic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1640,"featured_media":1998511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1998510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1640"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1998510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1998510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1998511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1998510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1998510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1998510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}