Lancaster Man Arrested on Charges that He Used Drone to Fly Fentanyl, Including to Customer Who Later Died from Overdose

LOS ANGELES - An Antelope Valley man was arrested today on a nine-count federal grand jury indictment charging him with using a drone to drop off fentanyl and other narcotics to buyers, one of whom 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 expected to be arraigned this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to the indictment that a grand jury returned on September 17 and was unsealed today, 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.

As captured on video footage taken by the drone, Laney used the same unregistered drone to transport and distribute narcotics on at least three other occasions in December 2022 and January 2023. 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.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted of all charges, Laney would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in federal prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the United States Customs and Border Protection's Center for Air and Marine Drone Exploitation are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Kyle W. Kahan of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section is prosecuting this case.

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