Sheriff Bill Brown joined federal investigators and prosecutors in Santa Barbara on May 9 — nationally recognized as Fentanyl Awareness Day — as they announced a larger investigation specifically targeting fentanyl cases where fentanyl dealers played a role in the death of drug users. | Credit: Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office

Two Santa Barbara County men — Kaelen Wendel, 31, and Michael Villapania, 35 — are facing federal charges for distributing fentanyl that led to the overdose of two men in the Northern Branch Jail.

Custody deputies responded to two reports of overdoses at the jail on the night of October 19, 2022, at around 9 p.m., and in the early morning hours of October 20, in which they were able to save one man but tragically were unable to resuscitate another, 37-year-old Edgar Estrada of Santa Maria, who was being held at the jail after being charged with felony obstructing a peace officer and various misdemeanors.

A cooperative investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Bureau and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration discovered that Wendel, an incoming new inmate from Lompoc charged with outstanding property warrants, is alleged to have smuggled in the fentanyl, which was then distributed around the housing unit where the overdoses transpired. It was further alleged that Villapania — a Santa Barbara native who had been arrested on outstanding probation warrant, a property crime warrant, and a warrant for bringing narcotics into jail — had orchestrated the exchange of fentanyl for commissary items.

According to the charging documents, the inmate in that housing unit then allegedly shared the drugs he had received from Villapania with his cellmate, Estrada, leading to both of their overdoses and to the death of Estrada.

The federal indictment was filed on February 10 in the Central District court of Los Angeles. Villapania was arraigned on March 23, while Wendel was arraigned on April 24. Wendel and Villapania are currently being held without bond in the federal prison system as they await trial. Assistant U.S. Attorney Suria M. Bahadue of the Criminal Appeals Section is heading up the prosecution while the DEA and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office investigate further.

Sheriff Bill Brown joined federal investigators and prosecutors in Santa Barbara on May 9 — nationally recognized as Fentanyl Awareness Day —  as they announced a larger investigation specifically targeting fentanyl cases where fentanyl dealers played a role in the death of drug users. The Wendel and Villapania case is one of 12 that are at the forefront of this investigation, part of a larger effort by the Department of Justice, the DEA, and the FBI to crack down on the rise of fentanyl deaths in the United States. 

During the press conference, Brown commended the efforts of public health officials who work to educate on the dangers of fentanyl, and pledged to make addiction-treatment services more widely adopted and make hard reduction methods such as Narcan more readily available. Brown admitted that community efforts are not enough, saying “We must also resolutely enforce the laws against those who cavalierly manufacture and distribute dangerous drugs like fentanyl without any regard for the lethal consequences of their reckless actions.” 

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