Jordan McCormick Found Guilty Of Drug Trafficking, Supplying Drugs

CALIFORNIA—On June 26, the United States Attorney for the District of Central California announced that following a 17-day trial, a jury convicted Jordan Nicholas McCormick, 31, of Palmdale, who was accused of selling oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl to a 20-year-old Lance Corporal in the United States Marine Corps, who overdosed on May 23, 2020, while serving at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.

McCormick was found guilty of six felonies, including one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, one count of possessing LSD with intent to distribute, one count of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, one count of distributing fentanyl, one count of distributing fentanyl resulting in death, and one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death.

He ran a drug trafficking operation out of his home in Palmdale, which started around October 2019 and continued until September 2020, when his home and vehicle were searched.  This led to law enforcement recovering a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol, LSD, methamphetamine, and drug trafficking equipment.

Two of his co-conspirators were Makai  Domion Shelton, who acted as a courier, and Gustavo Jaciel Solis, with whom McCormick sold drugs, including LSD, along with Adderall pills laced with methamphetamine, but only McCormick’s oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, and according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, he was often asked by Solis to obtain oxycodone pills.

They communicated via text messages and used Snapchat to coordinate their activities.  On May 21, 2020, the defendant sent Solis a text message to one of his co-conspirators stating, “seeing my oxy guy today, he has a boat,” which referred to 1,000 oxycodone pills, after which Shelton was directed to deliver a sample of these pills to Solis.  These pills were purchased by Anthony Ruben Whisenant, 24, a Marine Lance Corporal who pleaded guilty on January 31, 2025, to using a cellphone to commit a drug offense. The next day, McCormick sold another batch of bills to Solis, who posted an advertisement on his Snapchat account, which included in the picture several pills along with the caption “Who f*** with M30S? Tapp in.”

On that same evening, Whisenant and Ryan Douglas White, a Marine Lance Corporal, were driven from Camp Pendleton to Panorama City by L.M. so they could get ecstasy from Solis.  During the commute, the ad for the oxy pills was seen by Whisenant, who, after showing it to L.M., then placed an order for 10 oxycodone pills.  Once the Marines were in possession of the drugs, they drove to Compton to attend a party.  There, L.M. took several of the oxy pills, overdosed, and died.

McCormick sold another batch of 1000 pills to this associate on July 26, 2020, and they were arrested three days later, which led to about 900 pills being seized.

In September 2020, McCormick was named in a superseding indictment that included Whisenant, Ryan Douglas White, another Marine Corps Lance Corporal, Jessica Sarah Perez of Pacoima, and Gustavo Jaciel Solis of Sylmar. Both Perez and Solis were indicted on charges of distributing fentanyl and cocaine, and Solis was also charged with using a firearm to further a drug crime.

McCormick’s home and vehicle were searched, and he was also searched, leading to the recovery of a 9mm Glock semi-automatic pistol, LSD, methamphetamine, and drug trafficking equipment.

The sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled, and only the victim’s initials, L.M., have been released to the public. McCormick faces a sentence ranging from a minimum of 25 years to life in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, NCIS, and the Southern California Drug Task, which is a multi-agency task force led by the  Drug Enforcement Administration.