Valley Man, 21, To Admit To Dark Web Fentanyl Dealing Scheme: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Burbank man is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to his role in a drug ring that allegedly shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fentanyl-laced pills and cocaine to buyers nationwide who purchased the narcotics on dark web marketplaces.

Austin Blacano, 21, has agreed to enter a plea in L.A. federal court to one count of aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In his plea agreement, Blacano admits packaging drugs sold on darknet marketplaces, and then assisting with the shipment of drug-filled parcels to customers. For months, he says, he filled orders for fentanyl-laced pills throughout each week, with each parcel containing dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of the tablets.

In August 2021, Blacano and others packaged an order of 50 fentanyl- laced pills, and arranged for the pills to be shipped to an individual they believed was a drug customer, but who in fact was an undercover agent working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the plea agreement states.

Co-defendant Alejandro Soto, 21, also of Burbank has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge on April 9 in L.A. federal court.

Prosecutors say that from at least April 2021 to May 2023, the defendants conspired with Brian McDonald, 24, of Van Nuys, and Ciara Clutario, 24, of Burbank to traffic fentanyl and cocaine.

Specifically, McDonald and Clutario created vendor profiles on darknet marketplaces to sell fentanyl, cocaine, and other illegal narcotics in exchange for cryptocurrency, prosecutors said.

McDonald and Clutario were charged in a separate indictment in 2023 connected to the dark web drug trafficking conspiracy.

McDonald and Clutario -- who both pleaded guilty in the case -- monitored and maintained their darknet vendor profiles, including by updating drug listings and shipment options, tracking drug orders received through the profiles, and offloading cryptocurrency received on the darknet marketplaces into cryptocurrency wallets they controlled, court papers show.

Blacano, Soto and two Las Vegas-based defendants allegedly were directed by McDonald and others to package and ship the drugs. The defendants allegedly packaged the narcotics at a Burbank residence, federal prosecutors said.

Through the conspiracy, the defendants sold and shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of narcotics to drug purchasers across the United States, according to the indictment.

McDonald pleaded guilty in July 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, and one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He admitted in court documents to causing one fatal fentanyl overdose was sentenced in October 2024 to more than 20 years behind bars.

A sentencing hearing for Clutario is pending, although it is not clear as to what specific federal criminal charge she admitted.

City News Service