A variety of local law enforcement officials say arrests and investigations traditionally prosecuted by the LA County District Attorney's Office, including certain drug, gang, and gun cases, are being re-routed more frequently by police to federal prosecutors in efforts to obtain harsher penalties.
Some of the most visible examples, the officials said, have been in fentanyl death investigations, where, until recently, DA George Gascón had said he did not support filing murder charges against drug suppliers responsible for overdose deaths, and said through a spokesman in 2021 that increased penalties for drug offenses do not save lives.
Now, members of a local task force who specialize in drug supplier death investigations are often going directly to federal authorities.
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“They no longer had confidence after meeting with upper management, and they have not brought any more cases to the District Attorney's office," said Brian Schirn, a 30-year veteran prosecutor and the Head Deputy of the narcotics unit at the DA's office, speaking to the I-Team as a private citizen, not as a representative for the office.
Schirn said the October, 2022 accidental fentanyl overdose death of an 18-year-old in Santa Clarita named Jax Markley was a turning point, after one of Gascón's executives overruled the recommendations of prosecutors to file a second-degree murder charge against the supplier who sold Markley counterfeit pills containing fentanyl.
According to an internal DA's office memo, Chief Deputy District Attorney Sharon Woo directed the case be filed as an involuntary manslaughter instead, which generally carries a maximum penalty of up to four years in prison.
“We all thought it was an incredibly strong case," said Schirn, who said he agreed that the case should have been filed as a second degree murder.
Detectives then presented the same information to the US Attorney's Office, where the drug supplier, Skylar Mitchell, was indicted on a federal charge of distributing fentanyl resulting in death.
“They plead guilty right away, because it was such a strong and compelling case," Shirn said of the evidence against Mitchell, who is scheduled to be sentenced in December and faces no less than 10 years in prison, according to federal prosecutors.
Mitchell's defense attorney did not immediately return a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Gascón didn't respond Wednesday to specific questions about the Markley case or the appearance that local law enforcement was devising ways to circumvent the DA's office, but said in an email, "Knowingly selling illegal fentanyl can amount to an act of callous disregard for human life. That’s why our office treats illegal fentanyl sales with the utmost seriousness. We are committed to prosecuting those who illegally distribute fentanyl and other dangerous substances."
Gascón's approach shifted recently.
After dismissing drug supplier murder prosecutions as ineffective in 2021, Gascón's office filed 3 such cases in 2024, including against Jestice James, a mother accused of child abuse and murder for the deaths of her twins, who authorities said were exposed to fentanyl.
"We’re here to talk about how the LA County District Attorney’s Office failed us," said Matt Markley, Jax's father, when he sat down with the I-Team to discuss the DA's charging decisions.
He said he was angry when he learned of the DA's decision to file a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, and personally appealed to DA Gascón to reconsider.
“I was a little flabbergasted because we hold drunk drivers responsible, why are we not holding this addict accountable for killing other people," said Markley, who said he voted for Gascón in 2020 and supported some of his justice reform policies.
Markley said he was further frustrated when he learned the DA's office had filed fentanyl-supplier murder cases in recent months.
“Why the change? Just before an election cycle, I wonder? And that's why I'm angry enough to sit here in front of you and share this," Markley said.
Other local law enforcement officials said the recent federal prosecutions of the alleged gang members responsible for the murder of LAPD Officer Fernando Arroyos, which was also initially discussed with the DA's office, and a new effort to prosecute local firearms arrests in federal court are also instructive.
“What we’re doing here is expanding the number of cases that we bring federally," US Attorney Martin Estrada said at a news conference in March announcing a gun crime enforcement partnership with the LAPD and the LA County and Ventura County Sheriff's Departments.
Estrada said the firearms program was being done in concert with local prosecutors, although Gascón did not appear at the event.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney's Office said it was difficult to assess how many local cases have been presented for federal consideration as the office does not keep statistics that capture that information.
Schirn, the narcotics prosecutor, said the cases being shifted to US District Court, where only certain categories of locally-investigated crimes can be prosecuted under federal law, appears to be a response to some of Gascón's policies that restricted the use of gang, gun, and narcotics sentencing enhancements, which have had the effect of reducing penalties for a variety of serious crimes.
“The reason I agreed to come on camera, despite the fact that I'm very nervous, is because for 30 years I've asked victims and witnesses to come to court and have the courage to be honest and truthful," Schirn said.
"And who am I as a prosecutor when I know awful things are happening that I don't have the courage to do this?”
