Los Angeles County probation officers were arrested Tuesday afternoon on suspicion of smuggling drugs into a juvenile hall where a teenager died of a drug overdose in 2023, prosecutors said.
Michael Solis, 59, allegedly conspired with two juvenile detainees to sell Xanax inside Barry J. Nidolph Boys Hall in Sylmer between May and August 2023, according to criminal charges filed last week.
Court records show that Solis allegedly began conspiring to sell drugs on May 14, 2023, and May 14, 2023, just five days after 18-year-old detainee Brian Diaz died of a fentanyl overdose in the same building.
“Trading illegal drugs to juveniles is ruthless under any circumstances, not to mention a government official who uses vulnerable youth who need guidance and support,” Atti. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “Probation officers have their primary duties with protection, health and safety of juveniles under care. My office does not tolerate such abuse of power that puts young people at risk, undermines rehabilitation and reduces community safety.”
The LA County Probation Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately clear whether Solis had a legal representative or when he would be arrested.
A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office refused to say whether Diaz’s death caused an investigation into Solis, who is facing up to three years in prison if convicted.
Reports include an increase in drug use among teens held at the safe youth treatment facility in Nidolph, where Solis worked, had surfaced several months before Diaz’s death.
In April 2023, the LA County Inspector’s office detailed two cases in which young people were taken to local medical facilities after a fentanyl overdose or revived with Narcan. In March 2023, an investigator reported searched for a unit that overdoses a pill that overshadowed fentanyl and “two big vindles of what looks like fentanyl,” according to an inspector’s report.
Diaz passed away on May 9, 2023. Five days later, according to criminal charges, Solis began conspiring with two Nidolph boys to bring Xanax to prison. According to a court application, he has given two times on camera a boy identified only as “conspirator A” – a small package that appears to be a drug inside Nidolph Hall.
According to the complaint, Solis, who was called “old man” on phones recorded by law enforcement, was called “old man” on phones recorded by law enforcement, but had charged up to $400 for a reduction in drugs.
Enterprise collapsed in August 2023 when “Co-conspirator A” was captured with 106 Xanax tablets inside Nidolph Hall, court records show.
“There is no room in this department for those who are at risk for the safety and well-being of young people in our care,” Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa said in a statement Tuesday. “We praise District Attorney Nathan Hochman for the actions he undertakes and continue to cling to our commitment to keeping staff at the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and accountability.”
Solis was first scrutinized in October 2023 after Nicholas Ibarra, a resident of another safe youth treatment facility, was charged with bringing drugs into the facility. Ibarra told two probation officers (Reggie Torres and David Corona) that he could identify officers bringing drugs to the facility, according to Tom Yu, a lawyer representing both officers.
According to Yu, who said the charges against Solis proved officers, both Torres and Corona were placed on administrative leave some time to carry out a “incomplete investigation.”
“My peers were illegally F. Essentially, they were harassed and prevented them from doing their jobs,” Yu said. “Solis was the target of the investigation.”
The probation department has not responded to Yu’s claims since it first created it in 2023.
The charges are the latest in a series of criminal investigations targeting probation officers. Earlier this year, an investigation by the California Attorney General’s office regarding the so-called “Battle of the Gladiators” at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey received charges against 30 officers. The probation supervisor also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in February, years after the Times released footage of him, which bent his teenager into half Camp Kill Patrick.
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