LOS ANGELES
The leader of a narcotics-distribution ring plead guilty Monday to federal drug trafficking charges and admitted importing a powerful synthetic opioid from China, according to officials.
It was used to produce homemade pills that were distributed in bulk across the nation, officials said.
Gary Resnik, 32, of Long Beach, led a conspiracy that imported acetylfentanyl, a drug very similar to fentanyl, a powerful and highly addictive opioid. Acetylfentanyl, which is many times more potent that heroin, is not approved for any use in the United States, according to authorities.
Resnik pleaded guilty to two felony offenses – conspiracy to manufacture and distribute narcotics (including acetyl fentanyl and ecstasy), and possession with the intent to distribute acetyl fentanyl.
Resnik is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge S. James Otero on Feb. 26. At the time of sentencing, Resnik will face a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each of the two counts.
Resnik is facing up to 20 years in federal prison for each of the two counts.
In a plea agreement filed in federal court, Resnik admitted importing from China bulk chemicals that were used to manufacture narcotics, including acetylfenatnyl.
The drug organization also obtained pill presses from China that were used illegally to make tablets in labs in Long Beach and Baldwin Park. Resnik acknowledged that DEA agents seized over 9 kilograms of acetylfentanyl from the organization.
During the course of an investigation by the DEA, authorities seized narcotics – including opiate pills containing acetylfentanyl, Xanax pills, and ecstasy pills – from a man who had just purchased the drugs from members of the drug trafficking organization.