A 23-year-old woman from California, Destiny Raeann Perez, was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for her role in distributing thousands of fentanyl pills throughout the US, leading to serious injuries in two individuals.
Perez, alongside her boyfriend, Alexander Ortiz, managed the drug operation, with court records showing she had only one month of legitimate employment.
Created numerous CashApp accounts in the names of friends and family members so she and Mr. Ortiz could receive payments from pill customers.
Their sales were mainly done through social media apps, shipping to numerous states. In 2022, officials discovered a substantial amount of pills, cash, firearms, and other equipment at their residence.
A loaded pistol in Ms. Perez’s purse, transdermal fentanyl patches, approximately $9,257 in cash, two additional loaded firearms, a vacuum sealer, multiple other types of illegal controlled substances (thousands of alprazolam pills and Xanax bars, for example), and drug packaging and processing materials.
Despite this, they persisted in their illicit activities, frequently switching locations and vehicles.
Directly linked to two non-fatal fentanyl overdoses of minors in Wise County, Virginia, a fatal fentanyl overdose in Tennessee, and likely countless other unaccounted for fentanyl overdoses across the country.
Additionally,
One of the two overdose victims in Wise County, Virginia, spent multiple days on a ventilator and over a week in the pediatric intensive care unit as a result of pills distributed by Mr. Ortiz and Ms. Perez.