Simi Valley Man Who Distributed Heroin That Caused Overdose Deaths Sentenced to Nearly 22 Years in Federal Prison

LOS ANGELES – A Simi Valley man who pleaded guilty to distributing narcotics – admitting that he distributed drugs that killed two people and nearly killed two others who overdosed – was sentenced today to 262 months in federal prison.

David Ryan Tejera, 23, was sentenced late this afternoon by United States District Judge A. Howard Matz.

In imposing the nearly 22-year prison term, Judge Matz referred to Tejera’s crimes as “horrible conduct” with “disastrous consequences.”   

Tejera pleaded guilty in August 2011 to distributing heroin and cocaine that resulted in death. The charge specifically relates to a May 2010 incident in which he provided heroin and cocaine to a Simi Valley man who died from an overdose after Tejera injected him three times – twice with heroin and once with a heroin-cocaine cocktail. Tejera also admitted that he distributed heroin to a Thousand Oaks man who died of an overdose of the drug in October 2009. Tejera further admitted that in March and May of 2010 he distributed heroin that resulted in serious bodily injury to two people who suffered overdoses.

“The government believes that defendant’s admitted and uncontroverted offense conduct is some of the most serious criminal conduct possible,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing brief. “Defendant without reservation prepared a death cocktail for victim C.K. Defendant boasted of his skill in being able to administer what turned out, on several occasions as alleged, to be fatal and near-fatal doses of heroin. That
defendant’s offense conduct had a devastating effect on the victim’s family is an understatement.”

Tejera told detectives with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department that he was one of the largest heroin dealers in Ventura County and that he had been “slinging a lot in Thousand Oaks.” Tejera also told the detectives that he preferred “slamming” (quickly injecting) heroin and that “everyone asks me to shoot them up and it always comes back to haunt me.”

The case was investigated by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, which received assistance from the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.