Berkeley brothers plead guilty to dealing fentanyl in San Francisco Tenderloin neighborhood
SAN FRANCISCO -- A pair of Berkeley brothers have pleaded guilty to selling fentanyl in San Francisco's troubled Tenderloin neighborhood.
Now, Juan Carlos Hernandez-Ordonez and David Ordonez face lengthy federal prison terms when they are sentenced later this year.
According to federal prosecutors, Juan Carlos Hernandez-Ordonez pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal charge of distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl in the Tenderloin District.
David Ordonez had pleaded guilty on September 15 to conspiring with his brother to distribute fentanyl and to charges involving distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
In his plea agreement, 18-year-old Hernandez-Ordonez admitted to traveling time and again with his older brother from an apartment they shared in Berkeley to the Tenderloin to sell narcotics.
In March 2022, the brothers were approached by a man looking for "yellow" on the southwest corner of 7th Street and Market Street. Hernandez-Ordonez knew yellow as slang for fentanyl, and he sold the buyer just over two grams of fentanyl in exchange for $40 in cash. Unbeknownst to Hernandez-Ordonez, the buyer was an undercover law enforcement agent.
On March 29, Hernandez-Ordonez exchanged text messages with the same undercover law enforcement agent and negotiated the sale of 2.5 ounces of fentanyl for $1000.
Once again Hernandez-Ordonez travelled with his brother from Berkeley to the Tenderloin. The undercover agent again asked for yellow and Hernandez-Ordonez walked away to meet his brother and returned with fentanyl.
In Stevenson Alley, Hernandez-Ordonez weighed out the drugs on a digital scale and admitted he then sold the undercover agent approximately 59 grams of fentanyl in exchange for $1000 in cash.
