RIVERSIDE, California
A federal grand jury indicted a Riverside County man for allegedly selling a 17-year-old boy fentanyl in May, officials announced Tuesday.
The sale resulted in the boy’s fatal overdose the following day, the Justice Department stated.
Kyle Thomas Overby, 22, of Temecula, was arrested on Friday and was arraigned that day on the nine-count indictment, which a grand jury returned on August 9.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges, and a bond of $750,000 was set.
Overby is charged with one count of distribution of fentanyl to a person under the age of 21, resulting in death, seven counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and one count of knowingly possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
According to the indictment, on May 4, Overby knowingly an intentionally distributed fentanyl to the victim – identified in court documents as “L.B.” The following day, L.B., who was 17 years old, died after ingesting the fentanyl.
Overby allegedly also possessed with the intent to distribute multiple controlled substances, including 201 grams of fentanyl, nearly one kilogram of cocaine, MDMA, and alprazolam (also known by its brand name, Xanax).
On June 5, Overby allegedly possessed multiple firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking.
Specifically, he is charged with possessing three firearms lacking serial numbers, commonly called “ghost guns” – a 9mm pistol and two .40-caliber pistols.
If convicted of all charges, Overby faces up to life in prison.
The DEA and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department are investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Miles J. Robinson of the Riverside Branch Office is prosecuting this case.