By Cathy Locke
clocke@sacbee.com
Two Placer County men have been arrested on federal changes involving possession and conspiracy to distribute hydrocodone.
Raymond Reyes, 27, of Lincoln and Brandon Savaloja, 34, of Roseville were indicted by a federal grand jury last week.
The indictment alleges that the two men conspired with each other and other people to distribute the controlled substance to a number of minors within 1,000 feet of the Meadow Vista K-8 Community Independent Study Home School and E.V. Cain Middle School in Auburn, according to a federal Department of Justice news release.
The indictment also alleges that on eight separate occasions Reyes contacted pharmacies in Rocklin and Lincoln and falsely represented that a physician had authorized prescriptions for hydrocodone. He paid for the prescriptions at the pharmacies with his personal health insurance, although he knew that the prescriptions had not been authorized and that the insurance company should not be responsible for the cost, the news release said.
Reyes and Savaloja also are charged with unlawful possession of a means of identification of another, and Reyes is further charged with aggravated identity theft.
"The combined efforts of the Auburn Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration have made possible the arrest of multiple suspects and greatly impacted the flow of illegal prescription drugs into the Auburn area," Auburn Police Chief Valerie Harris said in the news release. "In addition to the federal case, 16 other persons were arrested in connection with this illicit drug network and charges are pending against eight others."
Call The Bee's Cathy Locke, (916) 321-5287.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.