A woman who played a minor role in the drug overdose death of an Ocean Beach man will surrender on Jan. 19 for her one-day-only jail time just before she starts her 12-month term of house arrest.

Attorney Paul Pfingst said his client, Alyson Marie Vaccacio, 32, did not know that drugs her ex-boyfriend, Anthony Souza, 47, sold to Chad Stevens, 28, contained fentanyl, which killed him.

Souza was sentenced to 12 1/2 years in federal prison in 2022 and is set for release in 2032, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, after he received credit for several years in custody.

Pfingst told U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel that Vaccacio had changed her life after the 2020 arrests of her and Souza after federal agents seized 183 counterfeit drugs containing fentanyl. She had lived with Souza in Ocean Beach at the time.

Stevens had a near-fatal overdose in November 2019 after purchasing some pills from Souza, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. He died on April 30, 2020, following another sale of drugs from Souza.

Stevens worked for the Wonderland Ocean Pub for two years in Ocean Beach. His obituary said his co-workers held a candlelight vigil in front of his Ocean Beach home.

Pfingst urged the judge to impose only three months of house arrest. The full year of house arrest she received on Dec. 9 includes terms of three years probation plus a $2,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon recommended 33 months in prison for Vaccacio. Both she and Souza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, records show.

When sentencing Souza, Curiel described illegal drugs as “a poison” that “kills dreams, aspirations, goals, humanity, empathy.”

“Drugs kill the ability to experience true joy, to make sound decisions,” Curiel told Souza in 2022.