United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FRESNO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment Thursday against Ronald Danny Ditlevson, 33, of Exeter, charging him with distributing oxycodone, also called oxycontin, Drug Enforcement Administration Jay Fitzpatrick and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, Ditlevson sold an undercover agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration a total of 355 oxycontin pills on three separate days between October and December 2013. The investigation resulted in the arrest of Ditlevson on January 30, 2014, after the undercover agent attempted to meet him for the fourth time to purchase 150 additional oxycontin pills.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen A. Servatius is prosecuting the case.

Ditlevson is scheduled to be arraigned on February 18, 2014, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gary S. Austin. If convicted, Ditlevson faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.