Man sentenced to prison for contributing to friend’s overdose

Published on July 29, 2025

GREELEY, Colo. (Weld County D.A.) – A Weld County man will spend more than two decades behind bars after he sold fentanyl to a friend who later died of an overdose.

On July 23, 2023, investigators with the Weld County Drug Task Force were advised of an overdose death in Evans. The victim was later identified as Noah Bancroft.

During the death investigation, investigators learned that Bancroft had bought cocaine and at least one fentanyl pill from his friend, Wyatt Goergen, the night prior to his death.

Text messages between the victim and defendant also indicated that the defendant knew how deadly the pills were.

Last month, Goergen plead guilty to one count of Distribution of a Controlled Substance – Fentanyl – Resulting in Death, a class 1 drug felony.

“The reality is that no matter what sentence this Court gives, the defendant still has a chance at life and will come home someday,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Pirraglia said during the sentencing hearing. “He will reunite with his family that are sitting here behind him. And Noah will not. I hope this sends a message to people who are thinking about selling this poison in our community. If you sell these drugs, and you have this type of deadly result, I hope you know what’s coming next.”

Weld County District Court Judge Vincente Vigil imposed the maximum sentence Wednesday of 24 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections.

“This problem is destroying our community in a lot of ways,” Judge Vigil said. “Nothing that I can do will solve the complex fentanyl addiction issues in this community, but I hope to send a message to people that if you’re going to do this, go do it somewhere else and don’t do it in Weld County.”

This was the first case in Weld County history in which an individual was charged and convicted for their role in a fentanyl overdose.

In addition to Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Pirraglia, Deputy District Attorney Jessica Akers also prosecuted this case.