A Los Angeles man has been sentenced to over 20 years for trafficking hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fentanyl-laced pills and cocaine across the country.
Brian McDonald, 23, of Van Nuys, also admitted to causing one fatal fentanyl overdose and using the dark web for his operations, the Department of Justice revealed in a release.
Reports show McDonald oversaw and carried out hundreds of drug sales, distributing more than 12 kilograms (over 26 pounds) of fentanyl through hundreds of thousands of laced pills. His operations ran from at least April 2021 until he was taken into custody in May 2023.
McDonald pleaded guilty in July 2024 to one count of conspiring to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, as well as one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The firearms included two gold-plated handguns, one without a serial number, that the DOJ said McDonald owned to protect his drug trafficking business and the proceeds of sales made.
“This defendant led a drug-trafficking operation that used the dark corners of the internet to ship large quantities of fentanyl-laced pills – with deadly consequences,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “My office will continue using every tool under federal law to prosecute and imprison criminals who prioritize greed over human life.”
The overdose victim, referred to as Z.S. in the release, ingested a fentanyl-laced pill that he bought from McDonald which resulted in his death.
In the duration of his operations, McDonald, whose aliases include “Malachai Johnson,” “SouthSideOxy,” and “JefeDeMichoacan,” created vendor profiles on darknet marketplaces such as “White House Market,” “ToRReZ” and “AlphaBay.”
The 23-year-old created, monitored and maintained these accounts to sell illegal drugs in exchange for cryptocurrency. He also updated drug listings and shipment options, tracked online drug orders and offloaded Monero cryptocurrency into wallets that were all under his control.
In addition to his online exchanges, the DOJ said McDonald recruited and hired accomplices to help with the massive narcotics transactions.
McDonald would purchase bulk quantities of fentanyl and cocaine and then direct the co-conspirators to help receive, sell, package and track orders placed on the dark web. His operation shipped drug orders to customers through the United States Postal Service.
One of his accomplices, 23-year-old Ciara Clutario of Burbank, has also pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge in this case.
Clutario was indicted alongside McDonald in 2023. The DOJ press release that followed shared text exchanges from 2021, exposing communications between the duo and others involved.
The DOJ said in May 2021, McDonald texted Clutario to tell her that their darknet drug sales were “flourish[ing].” Later that month, McDonald allegedly texted a co-conspirator that he had just sold 20,000 pills.
In June 2021, the indictment alleged McDonald texted an accomplice that he had 34 drug orders he had to fill. The following month, in text messages to Clutario about the conspiracy’s goals, McDonald stated, “i’m really tryna make like 5 mil.”
The proceeds from the drug sales – after being converted from cryptocurrency into cash – allegedly were stored by McDonald and Clutario at their respective residences, according to the DOJ.
Clutario will be sentenced in January 2025.
