A San Jose man has been charged with selling pills containing fentanyl to Los Gatos High School students that caused them to overdose, authorities say.
According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, 23-year-old Simon Armendariz was known around the campus—and across the community—as “Risky” and “Madman.”
Prosecutors say the young buyers were so aware of the danger of the product in his inventory that they often carried Narcan, an emergency opioid treatment.
“This is not a war on drugs, this is a struggle to save lives,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a release. “There are no good excuses with fentanyl. It kills and everybody knows it: the dealers, the manufacturers.”
Armendariz would peddle the drugs in the Los Gatos High School parking lot, and at a church down the street.
He’s scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon at 1:30pm and faces prison time if convicted.
Rosen said he is committed to cracking down on those in the fentanyl business.
“We will find them, arrest them, and hold them accountable for selling poison for profit,” he said. “I want to thank the Santa Clara Police Department, the Santa Clara County Specialized Enforcement Team and the investigators from my office for their continued work in addressing the fentanyl epidemic.”
The arrest of Armendariz sprung out of an investigation into a report of a 15-year-old girl overdosing in a bathroom at a Narcotics Anonymous meeting.
“The pill she overdosed on—a counterfeit Percocet pill laced with fentanyl—was traced back to Armendariz,” a DA’s Office spokesperson said. “Santa Clara PD, SCCSET, (and) DA investigators then traced the drugs to several other students, one of whom would get the $10 pills delivered from the dealer at school before first period, or at a nearby church parking lot.”
Armendariz encouraged the teenagers to share his contact information in order to generate new clients, prosecutors say.
“The additional investigation led to more charges and strike allegations filed by the DA’s Office,” the spokesperson added.
