Tarzana man gets 15 years for fentanyl sales linked to 2 deaths

A Tarzana man was sentenced on Monday, May 6, to 15 years and eight months in federal prison for distributing fentanyl in the form of fake Percocet pills that caused the deaths of an 18-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl.

Dominick Alvarado, 23, was also ordered to pay restitution of $41,271, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Alvarado pleaded guilty last year in downtown Los Angeles to two federal counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Alvarado sold fake pills laced with fentanyl to a group in the parking lot of a Valencia shopping mall on July 11, 2022.

Two days later, an 18-year-old Santa Clarita man was found dead by his brother, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.

Ten days after that death, Alvarado sold fake pills containing fentanyl to another group at the same mall. Following that sale, a 17-year-old girl died of fentanyl poisoning after ingesting the narcotics and suffering an overdose in a Santa Clarita park, court papers show.