Full Notification

PRESS RELEASE
Defendant Pleads Guilty to Selling Fentanyl that CausedFatal Overdose
Monday, February 24, 2025
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California
Kelly.Thornton@usdoj.gov
SAN DIEGO – Danny Nunez pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting that he supplied the fentanyl that caused the death of a 25-year-old San Diego woman identified in court records as “L.P.” on September 11, 2024.
According to the plea agreement, on September 12, 2024, the young woman’s parents found her deceased in her bedroom. Cell phone evidence and witness statements show that the victim purchased fentanyl from the defendant on September 11, 2024, which she later consumed, resulting in her death.
On October 3, 2024, members of the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) San Diego – Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team(FAST), in conjunction with the Escondido Police Department, conducted an enforcement operation resulting in the arrest of the defendant after he attempted to sell two baggies of fentanyl, weighing 7.67 grams and 1.23 grams, to undercover agents.
Nunez is scheduled to be sentenced on May 19, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Van Demark.

HSI San Diego FAST is a multiagency task force comprising state, local, and federal partners and was first established in August 2022focusing on the disruption and dismantlement of criminal organizations that smuggle and distribute fentanyl within San Diego County.HSI’s FAST targets fentanyl smuggling and distribution networks to counter the rising overdose rate and decrease the availability and accessibility of fentanyl.

DEFENDANT
Case Number 24-CR-2295-W
Danny Nunez Age: 25 San Diego, CA
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Attempted Distribution of Fentanyl
21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1)
Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison (per count)
INVESTIGATING AGENCIES
Homeland Security Investigations
Escondido Police Department
*The charges and allegations contained in an indictment or complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Contact
Kelly Thornton, Director of Media Relations
Updated February 24, 2025
Topics
DRUG TRAFFICKING
OPIOIDS
Component
USAO - California, Southern
Press Release Number:
CAS25-0224-Nunez
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