Twelve people with Southern California ties are among cases filed so far this year against alleged drug dealers accused of selling fentanyl and fentanyl-laced pills with each resulting in the death of at least one person, federal officials announced on Thursday, May 15.

There were more than 80,300 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2024, mostly related to fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Southern California residents charged with the distribution of fentanyl leading to a death, as announced in the U.S. Attorney’s Office news release, include:

• Michael Hoskinds, 46, of San Pedro, arrested on April 8. On August 12, 2023, prosecutors said. Hoskinds allegedly distributed the opioid to someone in Los Angeles County who overdosed on it  and later died. Hoskinds has pleaded not guilty.
• Waldo Jesus Almazo Casarubbias, 22, of Santa Ana, arrested on April 11 . He allegedly distributed the drug to the victim on July 5, 2022 in Orange County. The victim died. Casarubbias pleaded not guilty.
• Roberto Alexis Perez, 26, of Palmdale, charged with distributing fentanyl on September 3, 2022, in LA County, leading to a death.
• Kevin Lopez, 24, of Rancho Cucamonga, Jacqueline Carolina Fonseca-Flores, 24, of Rancho Cucamonga, and Brandon Ryan Osika, 22, of Ontario, charged with the distribution of fentanyl to a person under the age of 21 resulting in death, among other federal drug crimes. The defendants – including Meloney Osika, 24, of Ontario, who also was arrested May 7 – allegedly ran a fentanyl distribution ring in San Bernardino County. The defendants pleaded not guilty.
• Myles Ray Miller, 27, of Fullerton, charged with distributing fentanyl resulting in death and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. He allegedly distributed fentanyl to someone struggling with drug addiction in Fullerton on March 18, 2022. They died after ingesting the opioid.
• Michel Joseph Abdallah, 21, also known as “Mike,” of Laguna Niguel, charged with two counts of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. According to the news release, he allegedly distributed fentanyl to a victim on March 25, 2023 in Mission Viejo who took the drug and fatally overdosed. Abdallah again distributed fentanyl on May 15, 2023, in Aliso Viejo to a different victim who later died after ingesting the drug. He allegedly possessed a total of almost three pounds of the synthetic opioid and two firearms — including an AR-15-style pistol with no serial number or a “ghost gun”– on June 10, 2023.
• Alexander Nihar Biswas, 42, of Loma Linda, allegedly distributed the drug to a victim in San Bernardino County who later died after using it in January 2024. Biswas has pleaded not guilty.
• Jesus Erick Casillas, 56, of Lancaster, charged in connection with a fatal overdose in LA County in January 2024. Casillas has pleaded not guilty.
• Michael McDevitt, 43, of Simi Valley, allegedly distributed the drug in September 2021 to a person in Ventura County who later died. McDevitt is also charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He has pleaded not guilty.
• Macey Delynn Putnam, 31, of Laingsburg, Michigan and formerly of Torrance, charged in connection with a July 24, 2024 fatal fentanyl overdose of a person in LA County. Putnam is charged with distributing fentanyl that resulted in death and serious bodily injury. She has pleaded not guilty.

The charge of distributing fentanyl resulting in death carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison.