California Drug Traffickers Plead Guilty to Supplying Fentanyl Linked to Wise County Teen Overdoses

ABINGDON, Va. – A California-based trio pled guilty last week to running a cross-country drug trafficking conspiracy that supplied fentanyl linked to teenage overdoses in Wise County, Virginia.

Alexander Ortiz, 25, of Fullerton, California, Destiny Raeann Perez, 23, of Turlock, California, and Jorge Efrain Perez Jr., 24, of Santa Ana, California, each pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl. Ortiz also pled guilty to one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.  Ortiz faces a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of 15 years.  Jorge Perez and Destiny Perez each face a minimum of 10 years in prison. 

According to court documents, at the time of Mr. Ortiz’s arrest on June 20, 2022, he was found in possession of both a FNH pistol and a Glock, Model 45 9mm pistol, as well as over $10,000 cash, fentanyl patches and thousands of Alprazolam pills and other controlled substances, digital scales, and drug packaging items.  A search warrant executed at Ortiz and Destiny Perez’s residence in Los Banos, California resulted in the recovery of over 6,000 pressed pills containing fentanyl, approximately $60,000 cash, and 13 firearms.

The investigation revealed that between November 1, 2020, and June 20, 2022, the trio packaged and sold tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills to buyers throughout the country, including sales to co-conspirator Paul Mason Perkins and others in Southwest Virginia.  Using the social media platforms Snapchat and Instagram, Perkins ordered 1,000 pills every few weeks from Ortiz, who had the pills mailed to Perkins at his residence in Big Stone Gap. From there, Perkins sold the pills to individuals in Wise County, some of which were linked to two teenage overdoses that occurred in November 2021. 

United States Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh, Charlies J. Patterson, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Washington Field Division, and Tira A. Hayward, Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Washington Division made the announcement.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lena Busscher is prosecuting the case. 

The Wise County Sheriff’s Office, the Norton Police Department, the Southwest Drug Task Force, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives investigated the case, with assistance from the Stanislaus and Orange County, California Sheriffs’ Offices, and the Patterson California Police Department.