The husband of the Bronx day care owner who was charged in a 1-year-old boy’s fentanyl-poisoning death was hit with federal drug conspiracy charges Thursday — as he was flown from Mexico to California for an extradition hearing.
Felix Herrera, 38, who was nabbed on a bus by Mexican authorities after 10 days on the run on Tuesday, is charged with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death in a federal complaint unsealed by Manhattan federal prosecutors.
The announcement came as Herrera was being flown from Tijuana to San Diego, where he was expected to appear in federal court to face extradition to the Big Apple.
“Herrera’s arrest on the other side of the nation reflects our tireless pursuit of Herrera, who fled the daycare even as the children he abandoned inside were suffering from his poisonous trade,” Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement announcing the charges.
Herrera is the fourth suspect arrested in the Sept. 15 death of 1-year-old Nicholas Feliz Dominici, who died after being exposed to lethal doses of fentanyl at the Divino Nino Daycare in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx.
Police said the childcare facility, which was run by Herrera’s wife, 36-year-old Grei Mendez, was a front for a drug-peddling operation where three other kids were sickened.
Federal prosecutors this week released surveillance footage that captured Herrera sneaking out he back of the day care center lugging bags believed to be filled with drugs — just minutes before cops responded to a 911 call.
Nicholas was pronounced dead at the scene, while the other tots were hospitalized after being given a dose of Narcan, authorities said.
Medez and Herrera’s cousin, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were arrested Sept. 16 and charged with murder, assault and child endangerment and are being held without bail at Rikers Island.
Earlier this week, Renny Parra Paredes, 38, was hit with federal drug conspiracy charges in the case.
Herrera, described by sources as “the main player” in the drug peddling operation, took off after the children were found and remained on the lam for 10 days – with the US Marshal Service hot on his trail.
Federal agents who tracked Herrera to Texas got a tip that he was in Mexico, where authorities took him into custody as he tried to flee on a bus to Sinaloa — a major fentanyl distribution center.