Crime & Safety
2 LA County Men Plead Guilty In Same-Day Drug-Delivery Case
The service provided same-day delivery of cocaine and fentanyl-laced oxycodone to customers, including a man who died from an overdose.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Two Los Angeles County men pleaded guilty Wednesday to participating in a drug trafficking operation that provided same-day delivery of cocaine and fentanyl-laced oxycodone to customers, including a man who died from an overdose.
Arian Alani, 36, of Burbank, entered a plea in Los Angeles federal court to a single count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and Gilberto Marquez, 36, of Woodland Hills, pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Both defendants will be sentenced next year.
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Court papers say Alani distributed the fentanyl that led to the victim's fatal overdose in June 2022, while Marquez worked as a lieutenant in the drug trafficking operation.
Erick Estrada, 36, also known as Franco Sanchez and Eric Freddy Hook, allegedly ran the ring out of his Calabasas home, according to the DOJ.
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Estrada's 38-year-old wife, Zoila, is among the six defendants.
According to an 18-count indictment returned in November 2023, Erick Estrada obtained narcotics, including cocaine and purported oxycodone pills that actually contained fentanyl, and handed the drugs off to a network of delivery drivers for distribution to customers or other drug dealers.
On June 8, 2022, Erick Estrada allegedly sold 25 oxycodone pills to Alani, and a delivery driver then provided to Alani the purported oxycodone pills, which in fact contained fentanyl, papers show.
The following day, Alani sold some of the fentanyl-laced pills to the victim, identified in the indictment as C.N., who later died of an overdose, according to the indictment.
On June 10, 2022, Alani confronted Erick Estrada via text message and wrote, "My boy just died yesterday" — a reference to C.N. — and said Estrada shouldn't be selling drugs with fentanyl, the DOJ said.
Erick and his wife laundered the drug proceeds through his sham businesses' bank accounts, where they used the money for various personal expenses, including luxury vehicles such as a Lamborghini and a Land Rover, the indictment says.
Estrada and his wife are expected to face trial in downtown Los Angeles in December, according to prosecutors.
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