BOISE -- A 44-year-old Nampa man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal charge of distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl resulting in death.
The plea is in connection with the August 2017 death of 43-year-old Dominico Stewart.
Curtis’s plea is a change from a not-guilty plea he made earlier this year.
Before officially entering his guilty plea in federal court in Boise, Curtis listened to U.S. Attorney Bryce Ellsworth recount the events of last summer.
According to Ellsworth and information KTVB obtained from the Nampa Police Department, on August 13, 2017, Stewart and Curtis met up at a home in Nampa for a drug transaction. During the meetup, Both Stewart and Curtis began using the drug fentanyl. Shortly after, Stewart overdosed.
When Curtis realized what was going on he began to panic. But instead of calling 911 for help, Curtis instead tried to revive Stewart by injecting him with meth. According to the Nampa police investigation, Curtis also tried beating on Stewart’s chest to bring him back to life, badly bruising him in the process.
Curtis again panicked when he realized that Stewart had likely died from the overdose, so he moved Stewart's body to his truck and then drove it to an alley in Nampa where he dumped the body.
The U.S. attorney said that according to a Canyon County coroner's report, Curtis dropped Stewart’s body headfirst in the alley. The coroner's report shows that Stewart suffered massive cranial trauma, which along with the meth overdose led to his death.
The next day, August 14, 2017, Stewart’s body was found by a person walking in the Nampa alley between 4th Street South and 5th Street South at about 11 a.m.
Stewart was reportedly found with his shoes laid next to his head.
The investigation continued into the fall, and Curtis ultimately confessed to Nampa police in September about his involvement with Stewart.
On January 9, 2018, The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boise indicted Curtis on a federal charge.
Curtis faces a minimum of 20 years in a federal prison, and a maximum sentence of life in prison for the charge of distributing methamphetamine and fentanyl resulting in death, a class ‘A’ felony.
Curtis was not taken into custody Wednesday and was free to walk out of court.
His sentencing is scheduled for July 3 in federal court at 11 a.m.