MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A pair of California males on Wednesday pleaded not responsible to drug trafficking and possession costs associated to what authorities say was the most important fentanyl bust in Mobile County’s historical past.

Lener Daneski Jiron Solies, 27, of Norwalk, Calif., and Zeshan Malik Fayyaz, 26, of Hawthorne, Calif., appeared remotely by way of video hookup from Mobile County Metro Jail. Mobile County District Judge George Zoghby left in place bonds of $1.5 million every. The order requires these bonds to be paid in money, a situation that the defendants’ legal professionals mentioned is tantamount to denying bail.

In an indication of how important prosecutors think about the case, Mobile County Chief Assistant District Attorney Keith Blackwood personally dealt with the arraignment. He instructed Zoghby that the seized fentanyl bricks exceeded 3 kilograms, an quantity he mentioned might produce 1.5 million deadly doses.

“Fentanyl is presenting us with a complete paradigm shift,” Blackwood instructed the choose, later including, “As bad as cocaine is, as bad as meth is, as bad as heroin is, fentanyl is a game-changer. People are dying from it every day.”

The arrest occurred on Oct. 8, hours after the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office announced an unrelated fentanyl bust on the Dreamland Skate Center in Tillman’s Corner.

According to authorities, Solies was driving a rental automobile when deputies pulled the automobile over on Interstate 10 close to the Dauphin Island Parkway exit for an expired tag. Blackwood mentioned a drug-sniffing canine alerted to the presence of narcotics and {that a} subsequent searched turned up the fentanyl, together with 3 grams of cocaine.

Blackwood mentioned Solies didn’t have a driver’s license. He mentioned the defendants later instructed investigators that they have been driving from the Los Angeles space to Pensacola.

Blackwood argued for sustaining the preliminary bonds set by Mobile County District Judge Spiro Cheriogotis. He mentioned the defendants haven’t any ties to Mobile County and face, primarily based on the quantity of fentanyl, a compulsory sentence of life in jail if convicted. He additionally reiterated how lethal the drug is.

“That’s why it is so dangerous,” he mentioned. “That’s why every aspect of the criminal justice system must take fentanyl prosecutions seriously.”

Chase Dearman, an lawyer for Solies, objected to Blackwood’s characterization of how many individuals the medicine would kill.

“There is no chart that I’m aware of that’s been accepted in a court of law that converts a certain weight of a certain substance to a number of deaths,” he mentioned.

Dearman acknowledged that fentanyl is a harmful drug however added, “All drugs are dangerous. All of them are.”

Dearman mentioned that though his consumer is accused of transporting medicine, nobody has alleged that he’s a drug vendor.

“My client is not guilty,” he mentioned exterior the courtroom. “He’s not admitting to anything at this time. Period.”

Stewart Hanley, an lawyer for Fayyaz, mentioned his consumer is the son of immigrants with no felony report and a constant work historical past. He famous that the defendant’s dad and mom have been in court docket Wednesday and argued {that a} $75,000 bond with digital monitoring and different situations could be extra applicable.

“He’s a 26-year-old born and raised in the U.S. … This is a young man with no criminal history,” he mentioned.

A lady figuring out herself because the defendant’s sister mentioned, “We would take full responsibility.”

Dearman instructed the choose that he intends to attend till after the preliminary listening to to revisit bond, however he mentioned after the listening to that $250,000 could be truthful. He famous that the present $1.5 million is equal to the utmost bond quantity set by the Alabama Supreme Court in homicide circumstances.

“My client didn’t murder anybody,” he mentioned. “And at this stage of the game, the law simply states he’s presumed innocent, and he should be entitled to a reasonable bond. There is no way he can afford a $1.5 million cash bond. Very few people can.”

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