Felix Herrera Garcia pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.
Prosecutors said he was seen fleeing the daycare out a back alley, carrying two heavy shopping bags while children were suffering from the drug effects.
One-year-old Nicholas Dominici died, and three other young children, ranging in age from eight months to two years, were hospitalized and treated with Narcan, police said.
Herrera Garcia fled to Mexico after the death and was arrested after a week-long manhunt.
Herrera Garcia and others maintained more than 11 kilograms of fentanyl and heroin in secret compartments, or traps, located underneath the floor tiles in the playroom where the children played, ate, and slept on a daily basis, prosecutors said.
"Felix Herrera Garcia operated a deadly fentanyl trafficking enterprise out of a daycare, recklessly putting babies at risk of fentanyl exposure on a daily basis," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Damian Williams. "This case demonstrates the deadly reach and scope of the fentanyl epidemic, and the tragic collateral damage it inflicts
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