A Calabasas man who ran a same-day drug delivery service out of his gated-community home was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison on Thursday, after prosecutors said his network of couriers sold cocaine and fentanyl-laced pain pills that killed two people over a four-year span. Erick Estrada, 37, pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death, and was ordered to pay $43,145 in restitution to victims' families.
United States District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald handed down the 324-month sentence on August 6, 2026, across two consolidated federal criminal cases, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Federal prosecutor Anthony Chrysanthis said the sentence might bring victims' families closure, telling the court, as reported by MyNewsLA.com, that the drug distributor inflicted incalculable harm. Under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C), distributing a controlled substance that results in death carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years and a statutory maximum of life in prison, meaning Estrada's term landed well above the floor Congress set for such cases.
An Influencer's Death Accelerated the Investigation
One of the two fatal overdoses tied to Estrada's operation was 19-year-old social media influencer Cooper Noriega, identified in federal court filings only as C.N., who died on June 9, 2022, in a parking lot near Los Angeles after ingesting a pill sold through the delivery service. The medical examiner's finding involved fentanyl, alprazolam and lorazepam, according to reporting from Patch. Noriega's death drew national attention and, per the research record, helped accelerate federal scrutiny of the ring.
A second victim identified as S.M. died on March 9, 2023, after texting an order for two Xanax pills and two oxycodone pills for $80, a transaction that ended with a courier delivering counterfeit fentanyl-laced pills, the Justice Department said. The timeline suggests Estrada's network kept operating even after warning signs surfaced. Two days after courier Arian Alani sold fentanyl-laced pills that led to a fatal overdose, Alani texted Estrada that his boy just died yesterday and warned Estrada shouldn't be selling fentanyl-laced product, according to the same DOJ account.
Money Laundering Funded a Lamborghini and Land Rover
Prosecutors said Estrada's delivery service ran continuously from May 2019 through March 2023, earning him millions of dollars while he lived in a gated Calabasas neighborhood and used aliases including Franco Sanchez and Eric Freddy Hook. He and his 39-year-old wife, Zoila, laundered proceeds through sham business bank accounts to cover personal expenses, including a Lamborghini and a Land Rover, per MyNewsLA.com's account of the case. Zoila pleaded guilty to money laundering; she was among six defendants charged when the case became public in November 2023.
Federal prosecutor Meghan Blanco said Estrada created the business, failed to stop counterfeit fentanyl from entering the market, continued profiting even after stepping away from daily operations, and failed to ensure the operation ended, according to MyNewsLA.com. Estrada organized and led a network of drivers and couriers who distributed drugs to both customers and other dealers throughout the San Fernando Valley and Ventura County. Investigators said the reach went further still: a joint probe by the Simi Valley Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service and federal prosecutors found the delivery service extended into Nevada, Utah and New York.
Co-Defendants Face a Range of Outcomes
The 18-count federal indictment unsealed in November 2023 charged six total co-conspirators, including fugitives Tomas Marquez-Ruiz, who used the alias El Cafecito, and delivery driver Caseya Chanel Brown, known as Mom. Gilberto Marquez, a 37-year-old Woodland Hills man described as Estrada's lieutenant, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and was sentenced in February 2026 to more than five years behind bars, or 68 months, in federal prison. Arian Alani, a 37-year-old Burbank man and member of Estrada's drug ring, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and remains awaiting sentencing, with prosecutors recommending a 10-year term, according to earlier reporting from TMZ. Estrada himself pleaded guilty in the two separate Los Angeles federal court cases in October 2025.
The sentencing lands amid a broader shift in the region's overdose numbers. Accidental fentanyl overdose deaths in Los Angeles County dropped 37% from 2023 to 2024 and fell another 10% in 2025, following a peak of more than 2,000 annual fentanyl fatalities in 2023, according to the Los Angeles Times. Hoodline first reported on the case when federal charges were unsealed in November 2023, and the final sentencing outcomes for Alani, Zoila Estrada and the two fugitive co-defendants remain unresolved.
