Jorge Che-Quiab imprisoned for underage girls' sexual assault, fentanyl overdose

A 27-year-old Aurora man was sentenced Thursday to 64 years to life in prison for his role in providing fentanyl to a 16-year-old girl who ultimately overdosed in his apartment. 

Part of the sentence also includes Jorge Che-Quiab's responsibility for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl to whom he gave alcohol during the same party. 

"He played Russian roulette with people's lives," Chief Deputy District Attorney Darcy Kofol stated in a press release from the 18th Judicial District. "He was only thinking about himself that night. He knew exactly what was in those pills and he crushed them up and gave them to those girls."  

According to the arrest affidavit in the case, Che-Quiab and a friend picked up a number of girls in August 2020, stopped at a liquor store, and brought them back to his apartment at 2171 South Quentin Way. They began consuming alcohol, marijuana and cocaine at 1 a.m.

Che-Quiab told an investigator the eventual overdose victim and two other girls went into a bathroom to do "lines." Che-Quiab said he knew the girls had cocaine that was "mixed," but claimed it he had not provided it.

When asked why he knew it was mixed, Che-Quiab told the investigator, "because I know it, because I saw it, I was going to take a line and you could see it, they are mixed with crystal and mixed with other stuff," according to the affidavit. 

"I was in gangs. I saw it, you know," Che-Quiab added. The investigator noted Che-Quiab referred to when he "used to do that sh-t when he was in Cali(fornia)."

The eventual overdose victim soon had trouble maintaining consciousness, according to Che-Quiab and other witnesses. 

Che-Quiab awoke at about 9:30 a.m. when his friend said he should check on the 16-year-old because he wasn't sure if she was breathing. 

Members of the group called 9-1-1. 

Prosecutors stated that Che-Quiab flushed some drugs down the toilet as first responders made their way to the apartment. Nevertheless, a search later turned up 300 pills laced with fentanyl in addition to several bricks of heroin.

The 16-year-old was pronounced deceased at the scene. 

"You cut off a branch of this girl's family tree," Judge Darren Vahle told Che-Quiab during sentencing, according to the DA's Office. "That kind of pain will last for years and years."  

Che-Quiab was indicted by an Arapahoe County grand jury three months after the incident. A jury convicted him last May of eight felony counts. His trial lasted six days. 

"As we've tragically witnessed, these fentanyl pills can be just as deadly as a bullet," District Attorney John Kellner stated in the press release. "It's important to note that Mr. Che-Quiab had multiple chances to call for medical attention. Instead, he made the cowardly decision to go to sleep and do nothing. He was able to wake up in the morning, but this victim was not. His actions were reckless and egregious."