FBI arrests Lake Tahoe man suspected of fentanyl sales that killed four people
A 31-year-old South Lake Tahoe man arrested in connection with fentanyl overdoses that killed four people in the resort community last year made his first appearance in federal court in Sacramento on Monday.
Timothy Austin Pannell was arrested on Friday on suspicion of distribution of fentanyl in the case, saying he met two of the men who later died in a church parking lot, selling them fentanyl he wrongly claimed was cocaine, the FBI’s Sacramento office said in a news release Monday.
He was advised of his rights and ordered held without bail pending a custody hearing and preliminary examination set for May 12 by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremy Peterson, court records showed. He was initially charged with one count of distribution of fentanyl.
He was being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail without bail, online jail records showed. A complaint unsealed Monday in federal court in Sacramento recommended a charge of distribution of fentanyl against Pannell, court records showed.
Three men and a woman — Abraham Lemus, 32; Adam Joy, 35; Clifford Joy, 37; and Keely Pereira, 33; — were found dead on Feb. 12, 2024, after police were called to a home in South Lake Tahoe. Pannell, also known as “Frog,” had sold them the drugs the night before, the FBI said.
Multiple agencies responded to the 911 call seeking help for the overdose victims, including the FBI, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue and the El Dorado County Sheriff’s office, the FBI said.
A fifth person also overdosed, but survived, the FBI said.
Law enforcement agencies have stepped up their enforcement of crimes related to the distribution of fentanyl, a dangerous synthetic opioid that is often sold to users who think they are buying cocaine, heroin or other drugs. In recent years, some law enforcement agencies have begun charging fentanyl distributors with homicide if users overdose and die.
But in an unusual statement Monday, El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson said that a homicide charge would not have been allowed under state law, because Pannell did not intentionally sell the victims fentanyl.
Instead, Pierson said, Pannell thought he was selling two of the victims cocaine, as he had done in the past, and which they intended to use at a Super Bowl party. Evidence showed that Pannell tried to reach the victims to warn them, Pierson said.
“Upon realizing his error, Mr. Pannell made multiple frantic attempts to warn the victims — placing at least 17 unanswered phone calls — and later drove through the victim’s neighborhood in an unsuccessful effort to prevent harm,” Pierson said.
Had the sale and the overdoses taken place after the passage of Proposition 36 late last year, prosecutors would have had more law enforcement tools in a fentanyl case that resulted in death, he said.
Bringing in the FBI to pursue federal charges would “reflect the severity of the offense and allow for appropriate accountability,” he said.
With heightened enforcement and increased attention to the dangers of overdose from the drug, the number of people who died of fentanyl overdoses fell sharply last year, according to previous Bee reporting.
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 12:03 PM.
