A Reseda woman will spend at least 15 years in state prison for selling the fentanyl-laced drug that killed a Simi Valley man.
The Ventura County District Attorney's Office called the case the county's first fentanyl murder conviction.
Charity Faith Wiley, 40, was sentenced Sept. 1 after pleading guilty in July to second-degree murder and five other felonies, the Camarillo Acorn reported. The charges stemmed from a drug-trafficking operation that investigators said involved fentanyl, methamphetamine, counterfeit pills, firearms and money laundering.
Wiley was convicted in the June 2024 death of Devin Kastler, 28, who overdosed on a mixture of fentanyl and xylazine. Xylazine is a veterinary sedative not approved for human use.
The Ventura County Fentanyl and Overdose Crimes Units (VC FOCUS) responded to a residence in unincorporated Simi Valley on June 6, 2024, after a report of an apparent overdose. Toxicology testing showed lethal levels of both drugs in Kastler's system.
Prosecutors said Wiley sold the drugs to Kastler on June 5, 2024. That was five days after an associate warned her through text messages that the fentanyl-xylazine mixture, known as "tranq-dope," was killing people.
The associate said he would not sell it to Kastler, according to the DA's office. Wiley responded that fentanyl should not be sold to people who "dabble," prosecutors said. She sold it to Kastler anyway.
Kastler died the next day.
District Attorney Erik Nasarenko said the conviction marks "an important step in holding drug dealers accountable when their actions result in the loss of life," according to VC Reporter.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Audry Nafziger, who led the prosecution, described the scale of Wiley's operation. "After more than 30 years as a prosecutor, I have rarely encountered someone as organized and sophisticated as Wiley, coupled with such a disregard for human life," Nafziger said.
Wiley was arrested March 5, 2025, at her Los Angeles County home by VC FOCUS investigators and Simi Valley police. Searches of her home, a separate apartment used for the drug operation and storage locations turned up more than three pounds of fentanyl, one and a half pounds of methamphetamine and 2.6 pounds of counterfeit Xanax pills suspected of containing fentanyl.
Authorities also seized more than $96,000 in cash and three firearms, including two that were loaded. One firearm had been stolen and was obtained by Wiley in exchange for drugs, investigators said.
Deputy District Attorney Devin Mirchi of the Major Crimes Narcotics Unit said Wiley kept business plans, meticulous notes and a pricing strategy for her operation.
At the sentencing hearing, Kastler's mother, father, aunt and a close friend addressed the court. His mother, Kristi Kastler, told the court that when her son died, the life she knew ended as well.
VC FOCUS is a regional task force that includes the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, Simi Valley Police Department, Oxnard Police Department, the DA's Office, California Highway Patrol and federal law enforcement agencies.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner reported 216 overdose deaths countywide in 2025. Fentanyl was detected in 134 of those deaths, according to the DA's office. Residents can find fentanyl awareness resources at thinkagainvc.com.
