Santa Clarita man charged with distribution of synthetic opioid causing death

A Santa Clarita man has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge in what is considered the nation’s first criminal case involving a death caused by the synthetic opioid protonitazene, officials announced Thursday.

Benjamin Anthony Collins, 21, entered his plea Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles to a single federal count of distribution of protonitazene resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Federal prosecutors contend the drug is up to three times more powerful than fentanyl.

Collins was arrested Monday and arraigned two days later. A trial date of Jan. 14 was tentatively scheduled, and a federal magistrate judge ordered Collins jailed without bond.

According to the indictment, during the early morning hours of April 19, Collins knowingly and intentionally distributed protonitazene, which resulted in the death of the victim. In recent years, protonitazene has been sold over the internet and is believed to be far more powerful than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times stronger than heroin.

Collins allegedly sold the 22-year-old victim pills containing the opioid and arranged to sell the victim a bulk supply of the pills in the future. The victim, a resident of Stevenson Ranch, consumed the pills soon afterward in the front seat of his car and quickly died. His mother later found him dead in the car parked outside her home and called 911, court papers stated.

If convicted, Collins would face a sentence between 20 years and life imprisonment, prosecutors noted.