LOS ANGELES
An Antelope Valley man was arrested Wednesday on a nine-count federal grand jury indictment charging him with using a drone to drop off fentanyl and other narcotics to buyers, officials stated.
One customer died of a fatal overdose of the powerful synthetic last year.
Christopher Patrick Laney, 34, a.k.a. “Crany,” of Lancaster, is charged with one count of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, four counts of knowingly and willfully operating an unregistered aircraft in furtherance of a felony narcotics crime, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Laney is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
According to the indictment that a grand jury returned on September 17 and was unsealed Wednesday, Laney, on January 17, 2023, used an unmanned aircraft system, commonly referred to as a “drone,” which had not been registered with the Federal Aviation Administration—to transport fentanyl from his house to a nearby church parking lot.
Laney distributed the fentanyl to a third party that provided it to the victim, identified in the indictment as “J.K.,” who was found dead the next day after she suffered a fatal drug overdose.
On at least three additional occasions in December 2022 and January 2023, Laney used the same unregistered drone to transport and distribute drugs, as seen in drone video footage.
In February 2023, Laney also possessed methamphetamine and fentanyl at his residence and knowingly possessed multiple firearms—including an AR-15-style rifle lacking a serial number, commonly referred to as a “ghost gun,” and two 9mm semiautomatic ghost-gun pistols—inside of his room.
If convicted of all charges, Laney faces up to life in prison.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Center for Air and Marine Drone Exploitation are investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Kyle W. Kahan of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section is prosecuting this case.