A San Fernando Valley man who used hidden internet marketplaces to sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of fentanyl-laced pills and cocaine to buyers nationwide pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal charges.
Brian McDonald, 23, of Van Nuys, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to two counts: conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald set a sentencing hearing for Oct. 21.
McDonald and a co-defendant were charged in May 2023 in an eight-count criminal indictment alleging that from at least April 2021 until May 2023, they conspired to sell fentanyl and cocaine via dark web marketplaces such as White House Market, ToRReZ and AlphaBay. McDonald, using aliases such as “Malachai Johnson” and “SouthSideOxy,” created vendor profiles on the marketplaces to deal drugs in exchange for cryptocurrency, the indictment states.
McDonald monitored and maintained the vendor profiles, including by updating drug listings and shipment options, tracking drug orders received online, and offloading cryptocurrency received as drug payments into cryptocurrency wallets he managed, prosecutors said.
McDonald recruited and hired others to help with packaging and shipping the narcotics sold on hidden internet marketplaces. He also taught co-conspirators how to package and ship the narcotics, and assisted in the process, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
The indictment says that in May 2021, one week after McDonald created a darknet vendor profile for the purpose of selling illegal drugs, he texted an accomplice, boasting of sales.
Later that month, McDonald messaged a co-conspirator that he had just sold 20,000 pills, court papers show.
In June 2021, McDonald texted an accomplice that he had 34 drug orders to fill. The following month, in texts about the conspiracy’s goals, McDonald stated, “i’m really tryna make like 5 mil,” according to the indictment.
The proceeds from suspected drug sales — after being converted from cryptocurrency into cash — were stored by McDonald and a co-defendant at their respective residences. The fentanyl and cocaine sales raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars, the indictment states.
McDonald was also charged with possessing firearms, specifically two gold-plated handguns — one without a serial number — to protect his drug business and the cash made on darknet marketplaces.
A sentencing hearing for co-defendant Ciara Clutario, 23, of Burbank, is set for Jan. 13, although it is not clear as to what specific charges she admitted.
