Jury Convicts Man in Fentanyl Possession for Sale Case

Jury Convicts Man for Selling Fentanyl in SOMA

As of November 20, 2023, the District Attorney’s Office has filed 321 motions to detain the most serious drug dealing suspects because of the extreme public safety risk they pose. Of the 321 detention motions filed, the court has granted 32.

The District Attorney’s Office moves to have defendants detained at arraignment while the case is pending to protect the safety of the public and ensure suspected drug dealers are not quickly returning to the streets to continue selling fentanyl. The court in its sole discretion may choose to rule at arraignment or defer the ruling to a subsequent hearing in the matter, such as the preliminary hearing.  When rulings are deferred, the court is effectively denying the motion without prejudice, which means that the motion may be heard at a subsequent hearing, like a preliminary hearing.  Preliminary Hearings are evidentiary hearings where prosecutors present evidence to support the charges and allegations filed in a case.

Arraignments are typically in Department 10 at 1:30 p.m. each day, although some are scheduled for 9:00 a.m.  Preliminary Hearings are typically heard in Departments 9, 11 and 12 at the Hall of Justice, 850 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.  Click here for the court’s calendar.

As of November 16, 2023, there are more felony narcotics sales cases in Bench Warrant Status (729) than pending before the court (575).  Bench warrants are issued by the court in cases where defendants who are out of custody fail to appear in court for a mandated hearing.

As of November 16, 2023, there are 549 individuals with open bench warrants who failed to appear for narcotics sales cases who were released by the court.   Of these individuals in bench warrant status, 140 of them have more than one open case. Seven individuals have four open cases and one individual has five open cases.

As of November 16, there are 442 individuals with pending cases for narcotics sales cases.  Of these individuals,103 of them have more than one open case.  Five individuals have four open cases.

The San Francisco District Attorney’s Office is a committed partner in the ongoing efforts to support the comprehensive violence intervention and public safety strategies addressing the fentanyl crisis. As a city rich with diversity and home to families, immigrants, seniors, merchants, and workers, San Francisco must collectively support individuals in need of harm reduction and/or drug overdose interventions and ensure public safety services and programs are available as appropriate.

Shortly after taking office, District Attorney Jenkins revoked over 30 lenient plea offers related to narcotics cases made by the previous administration that had not been accepted. Additionally, District Attorney Jenkins quickly implemented new policies for prosecutors on how narcotics cases would be handled moving forward, such as establishing a drug use and possession citation bundling policy to help steer users into treatment. The new policies are rooted in saving lives of individuals impacted by epidemic levels of drug addiction and violence, while providing alternative pathways.

As a result, narcotics cases are now being properly investigated. Prosecutors are advancing public safety arguments to detain egregious drug dealers of fentanyl or repeat offenders selling this deadly poison, and requesting they be held in custody while their cases are pending.