Woman charged with murder in Ultra overdose death can be released from jail
A woman who supplied the pill that caused a 24-year-old to overdose while she attended the Ultra Music Festival in 2025 can be released from jail, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Charlene Forti, 27, is accused of supplying the MDMA, better known as “ecstasy” or “Molly,” that caused the death of Jenniha Le, 24, on March 31, 2025. She appeared in court for an Arthur hearing, which allows judges to consider setting bonds for defendants charged with crimes that aren’t normally eligible for bail.
In an Arthur hearing, the state has to establish that “proof is evident and the presumption great” that the accused person is guilty. That’s a high burden — often considered even greater than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ellen Sue Venzer found that prosecutors met that burden but opted to grant the suspect a $250,000 bond, indicating that she didn’t find Forti, from Coral Springs in Broward County, to be a flight risk.
If Forti posts bail, she will be placed on house arrest, will have to submit to drug testing and won’t be able to contact witnesses.
Forti is being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Prosecutors charged Forti with first-degree murder under a Florida law that allows a person who supplies controlled substances that lead to another’s death to be charged with first-degree murder.
Prosecutor Shawn Abuhoff argued Forti should remain behind bars because she distributed the pill — making its way to Le — and causing her death. Abuhoff added that he fears Forti will continue supplying drugs in the community if she is released.
Forti’s defense attorney, Richard Cooper, said prosecutors can’t prove that the pill wasn’t tampered with by any of the other people involved in the case before it reached Le’s hands. Their accounts, Cooper argued, can’t be trusted because they had motivation to lie.
Cooper also pointed out that Forti has no criminal record and didn’t flee in the year she was under investigation.
Unlike in a regular first-degree murder case, prosecutors don’t need to prove that Forti had an intent to kill Le, who had just graduated from nursing school.
READ MORE: Prosecutors charge woman with murder in Ultra Festival overdose death
Le died on March 31, 2025, of drug toxicity. The previous night, Le was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital because she was in and out of consciousness at Bayfront Park in downtown Miami.
In court, Dr. Tuyet Tran, a forensic pathologist with the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office, testified that Le’s death was ruled an accident. But Tran said that’s routine policy when a person dies from drug use.
Miami Police detective Sandra Llanes, who was working with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on a drug taskforce during Ultra, also took the stand. Llanes said she responded to the hospital and interviewed Le’s partner, Hannah Nguyen, who provided a timeline and outlined key figures in the case:
Le and Nguyen were in town from Georgia to attend the music festival. Nguyen, 25, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, alongside the accused drug runner, An Tan Ly, 26. Nguyen’s friend Carmen Lo, 25, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Llanes said several of the people in the case knew each other because they were medical students.
Before the music event, Nguyen’s friend Lo connected Nguyen with Forti — a “plug” or drug dealer, according to an arrest warrant.
Ly later delivered the drugs to Nguyen, the warrant says. Investigators reviewed Instagram messages that showed how they planned to find each other at the sprawling event.
Nguyen and Ly were arrested on March 12, and within a week were sentenced to five years of probation, court records show. The duo, Llanes said, is cooperating with police and prosecutors.
Lo was arrested and booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta and will be transferred to Miami-Dade.
Llanes also testified about Forti’s texts after hearing about Le’s overdose. In several, she said “how tf do I get a lawyer,” “do I have to tell my parents,” and “don’t talk to the police without legal representation.”
“I’m a little nervous fam,” Forti said in one of the texts.
When Cooper questioned Llanes, the detective said she didn’t investigate from whom Forti received the pill. Llanes also said she didn’t interview Forti, although Cooper said Forti reached out to police and prosecutors.
