s anta Maria man pleads guilty to fentanyl charge

Police report seizing 17,000 fentanyl pills

By NEIL HARTSTEIN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

An admitted Santa Maria drug dealer has pleaded guilty in federal court to a felony charge of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, including about 17,000 pills laced with the synthetic opioid, a U.S. Attorney’s spokesman said.

Victor Anthony Olivera Hernandez, 21, had been scheduled to stand trial in February after first denying the charge against him contained in a grand jury indictment.

“No trial. He pleaded guilty on Dec. 8 to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl,” Ciaran McEvoy, public information officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told the NewsPress.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 17.

face is life imprisonment.”

According to the indictment, on Aug. 4, 2022, Mr. Olivera “knowingly and intentionally possessed with intent to distribute approximately 1,676.12 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl, a Schedule II narcotic controlled substance.”

Mr. Hernandez is incarcerated at the Men’s Detention Center in Los Angeles, a federal facility run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

He originally was prosecuted locally, but then the U.S. Attorney’s Office reached out and said it wanted to prosecute him on federal charges. Santa Barbara County prosecutors readily agreed.

By CALEB BEEGHLY NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

The USS Santa Barbara and the city of Santa Barbara share more than just a name.

“Resilient and Determined” reads the USS Santa Barbara’s banner, signifying the motto of the littoral combat ship’s crew. Arguably that slogan rings equally true for Santa Barbara, a city with a proud history.

On Saturday morning at the naval base in Port Hueneme, the USS Santa Barbara will be commissioned, officially placing the ship and its crew as ready for active service. And after five years of anticipation, the crew is ecstatic to show off their ship to the world.

The News-Press was among the media who toured the ship Thursday at Naval Base Ventura County.

“It’s like getting ready for a wedding,” said Lt. Ada Willis, the public affairs officer, describing the crew’s excitement.

A littoral combat ship is a relatively smaller vessel, optimizing speed and agility.

It also has a bigger flight deck, allowing the ship to store and use various vehicles such as helicopters, giving the ship and its crew more flexibility, increasing the potential capabilities of the ship.

Littoral combat ships have two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant.

The USS Santa Barbara is of the Independence variant, giving its body a unique triangular shape, making this class of ship easily identifiable.

From above, the sleekness and shape of an Independence-class littoral combat ship almost looks like a bird gliding in the water, waiting to spread its wings.

From the ground, the shape and sleekness of the ship almost makes it look like a spaceship, invoking a futuristic aesthetic.

Add to that Lt. Willis’ description that entering the ship, especially for the first time, is like entering a different world.

The futuristic, or space-like, feel continues when you enter the quarter deck — and see the silver-

FYi

The commissioning of the USS Santa Barbara will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday at Wharf 5, Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme. Gates open at 8 a.m. To attend, you must request an invitation at usssantabarbara. org/events.

The ceremony will stream live at dvidshub.net/ webcast/31155.

After the commissioning, the ship will travel to its home port in San Diego.

covered interior — which is from the fire retardant covering that wraps most of the ship’s interior — and the various big machinery throughout the mission bay, such as the ship’s crane system.

However, the USS Santa Barbara is not just futuristic looking. The Navy noted the ship has some of the most advanced equipment and systems

— even integrating manned and unmanned equipment and vehicles — prioritizing the efficiency and safety of the ship and its crew.

The Navy said the USS Santa Barbara is so efficient that it only needs about a third of the crew that a typical naval vessel would need, but this means that each crew member is doing the work of about three to four people. That speaks to not just the efficiency of the crew members but also their resilience and determination.

“If he is convicted, the mandatory minimum sentence he would face under the law is 10 years in federal prison,” Mr. McEvoy said. “The statutory maximum sentence he would

Mr. Hernandez was arrested Aug. 4 by detectives with the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations after they raided a house in the 100 block of Curryer Street in Santa Maria. Some of the drugs

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