Camino man indicted in suspected drug death of 15-year-old high school student

Five years after a 15-year-old El Dorado High School student died from ingesting a hallucinogenic drug, a Camino man has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of possessing and distributing a counterfeit version of LSD that caused the death.

Elijah Lee Richter faces the federal charges in the September 2012 death of Alejandro Nunez Avila, who was found unresponsive at a Pollock Pines home and later died at Marshall Hospital.

El Dorado County sheriff’s officials said at the time that Avila had ingested a synthetic drug and later booked Richter, then 20, and Jesse Howard Roberts, then 21, on involuntary manslaughter charges.

The El Dorado County District Attorney’s office said Roberts subsequently was convicted in the case and sentenced to six years. He currently is listed as being an inmate at Mule Creek State Prison.

Richter was indicted last week by a grand jury in Sacramento on charges of possessing a controlled substance known as 25i-nBOME, a drug that the California Poison Control System says is sold as a supposedly legal version of LSD for $7 to $10.

“Similar to LSD, NBOMes are frequently sold on a blotter paper, often adorned with unique artwork or colorful designs to indicate a particular brand or drug,” the agency said in a spring 2015 report.

Richter faces 20 years to life and fines of up to $10 million if convicted, according to the indictment.

This story was originally published September 5, 2017 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Camino man indicted in suspected drug death of 15-year-old high school student."