Federal charges carrying the potential for life in prison have been filed against suspected drug dealers who sold fentanyl-laced narcotics resulting in 10 deaths in Orange County, federal and local authorities announced Friday, April 22.
Among the deaths are three people who fatally overdosed on Balboa Island in 2021 after ingesting what they thought was straight cocaine.
“Often when we discuss the rampant rise of drug-caused deaths there’s a focus on numbers, but today’s announcement is an important reminder that these numbers are more than that — these are our children, loved ones and friends,” said DEA Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Bill Bodner. “Fentanyl does not discriminate and it’s affecting every community, ethnicity and generation throughout our country.”
Federal grand jury indictments or criminal complaints have been filed against seven defendants. Six have been arrested and one is a fugitive. All seven are charged with distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. If convicted, each faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a potential sentence of life without parole.
‘Severe consequences’
“These cases highlight two important lessons, with the first being that many street drugs are contaminated with an extremely powerful opioid that often leads to death,” United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison said. “The second is that narcotics dealers face severe consequences in federal court when the distribution of their products results in a fatal overdose.”
The investigations were conducted by the DEA’s Overdose Justice Task Force, which was created to address opioid-related deaths in the greater Los Angeles area, most of which are caused by the synthetic fentanyl.
DEA agents collaborate with local law enforcement to determine if there are circumstances that might lead to a federal criminal prosecution. Since the start of the Overdose Justice program in 2018, the DEA has worked with local police agencies to obtain about three dozen federal indictments charging defendants with death resulting from narcotics trafficking.
The victims in the Orange County cases are of diverse backgrounds. Two were juveniles and one was a community college student.
In most of the cases, the victims did not know they were ingesting fentanyl. Some of the alleged drug traffickers knew or had reason to believe their products contained fentanyl, even though they claimed to be selling other narcotics.
Defendants named
Among the defendants:
- William Edward Dick Jr., 51, of Costa Mesa was arrested Thursday for allegedly selling fentanyl-laced cocaine that killed three people in a Balboa Island house on Oct. 24, 2021. A criminal complaint filed Wednesday alleges that two couples had gathered in Newport Beach, enjoyed a dinner together, and one of them decided to purchase cocaine for the group. They eventually contacted Dick, who agreed to sell them $200 worth of cocaine, which he delivered to the house where the couples were staying. After snorting the purported cocaine, all four suffered overdoses, and three of the individuals were pronounced dead at the house the next morning.
- Dick, who is currently charged with one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, was scheduled to appear Friday, April 22, in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. The DEA and the Newport Beach Police Department are investigating the case, to be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bradley Marrett.
- Omar Alejandro Reynoso, 30, of Costa Mesa was arrested Monday after a grand jury indicted him last week on two counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. Reynoso allegedly provided counterfeit Xanax pills containing fentanyl to a man and a woman who died in his hotel room in incidents three weeks apart in November 2019.
- Reynoso pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was ordered to stand trial June 14. A United States magistrate judge ordered Reynoso detained without bond while the case is pending. The DEA and the Costa Mesa Police Department are investigating the case, to be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jake Nare.
- Tyler David Wilkinson, 23, of Santa Ana was named Wednesday in a four-count federal grand jury indictment that alleges he sold counterfeit oxycodone pills to a 17-year-old victim who died of a fentanyl overdose in Lake Forest. The victim purchased the pills in June 2021 after responding to an advertisement Wilkinson posted on Snapchat, the investigation revealed. Six months before the transaction that led to the teen’s death, Wilkinson allegedly possessed distribution quantities of several types of narcotics, including nearly 1,400 counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl.
- Wilkinson allegedly continued to sell fentanyl-laced pills, even after law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence. Wilkinson is a fugitive currently being sought by authorities. The DEA and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department are investigating this case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Nare will prosecute.
- Anthony Bernard Fender, 31, of Tustin was arrested Monday on a grand jury indictment filed last week alleging he sold fentanyl powder that resulted in the death of a 40-year-old man. The indictment further alleges that Fender committed the federal offense after he was convicted of a drug-trafficking crime in Orange County Superior Court in 2013. That conviction would subject Fender to a mandatory life sentence. The DEA and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department are investigating this case, to be prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marrett.
- Carter Joseph Klein, 25, of Newport Beach was arrested on April 14 after he was named in a one-count indictment accusing him of distributing fentanyl that led to the overdose death of an 18-year-old Orange Coast College student. Klein allegedly sold fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills to the victim in February 2021. Klein pleaded not guilty April 15 and was ordered to stand trial on June 7. The DEA and Costa Mesa Police Department are investigating this case, to be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rosalind Wang.
- Isai Hernandez Higinio, a.k.a. “Joker,” 23, of Santa Ana was arrested April 1 on a grand jury indictment filed last month alleging he distributed fentanyl in counterfeit Percocet pills to an 18-year-old Tustin resident who died after ingesting the drug. Hernandez pleaded not guilty April 4 and was ordered held without bond. A trial is scheduled for May 31. The DEA and Orange County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the case, which is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Melissa Rabbani.
- Matthew Benjamin Hurley, 24, of Virginia, was arrested January 3 on charges alleging that he distributed fentanyl at a motel in Costa Mesa that resulted in a fatal overdose. Hurley, who has been ordered detained without bond, is scheduled to stand trial on Sept. 27. The DEA and the Huntington Beach Police Department are investigating the case, to be prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gina J. Kong.
All of the cases were filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.
Also in response to the surge of fentanyl-related deaths, local prosecutors in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties have begun charging drug dealers with murder.
