A Santa Clarita man was sentenced Thursday to eight years behind bars for running a drug ring that sold cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and crack on darknet marketplaces and shipped the narcotics in vials hidden in stuffed animals.
Jerrell Anderson, 34, pleaded guilty in June in downtown Los Angeles to one federal count each of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute heroin, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A co-defendant, Adan Sepulveda, 31, of Palmdale was sentenced in April to five years in federal prison for his role in the ring.
Three others were also charged in 2019 — and subsequently sentenced — for their membership in the “Drugpharmacist” drug trafficking organization, named for the moniker it used on darknet marketplaces Wall Street Market and Dream.
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The defendants hid the drugs inside stuffed animals and mailed them at post offices throughout Los Angeles, according to documents filed in Los Angeles federal court.
One shipment of heroin in August 2018 resulted in the fatal overdose of a victim in Knoxville, Tennessee, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said an investigation into the organization confirmed that the ring used stash houses in the San Fernando Valley to package drugs for delivery.