Three individuals out of California recently pleaded guilty to federal charges after being accused of using Snapchat and Instagram to sell fentanyl to teenagers out of Wise County, who later overdosed on the drugs.

 

25-year-old Alexander Ortiz, 23-year-old Destin Perez, and 24-year-old Jorge Perez each pleaded guilty to one-count of conspiracy to distribute over 400-grams of fentanyl.

 

Ortiz pleaded guilty to an additional charge of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime. He faces a minimum of 15-years in prison. Both the Perezes face a minimum of 10-years in prison.

 

The trio will be sentenced in April and May.

 

Officials allege that the trio sold tens of thousands of pills to buyers around the country from November of 2020 to June of 2022. Among their alleged buyers was 21-year-old Paul Mason Perkins, of Big Stone Gap, who allegedly sold them in Wise County. Those pills were linked to two teenage overdose deaths in November of 2021.

 

Perkins pleaded guilty last year and is currently awaiting sentencing.