Tuolumne County District Attorney Cassandra Jenecke announced today that on October 21, 2024, Daniel Curtis was sentenced to a total of 6 years 8 months State Prison after pleading guilty to Maintaining a Place for Selling or Using Controlled Substances, Possession of Fentanyl for Sale, and Destroying Evidence. Mr. Curtis’ sentence included being sent to prison on previous charges of False Personation, Driving a Vehicle without Consent, and Failure to Appear that he was on probation for at the time of the drug related offenses. Furthermore, on October 28, 2024, Gina Chiodo, was sentenced to 2 years and 8 months State Prison after pleading guilty to Maintaining a Place for Selling or Using Controlled Substances and an unrelated case of False Personation.
The drug related charges against Ms. Chiodo and Mr. Curtis arose from an investigation by Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Team (TNT), which resulted in the execution of a search warrant on their Jamestown residence in August of 2024. The search revealed over 11 grams of Fentanyl, 32 cell phones, digital scales, 114 grams of a cutting agent, and multiple items of paraphernalia and packaging material. Further, while TNT agents were making announcements for individuals to exit the residence for the search warrant, Mr. Curtis destroyed suspected controlled substances.
As a part of their plea, both defendants were read and acknowledged the following Fentanyl Advisement: “You are hereby advised, illegally selling or furnishing controlled substances carries with it the specific risk that you are providing drugs laced with a potentially lethal substance and are hereby advised that if you personally provide or aid someone else with providing these drugs to a person, and a person dies as a result of ingesting a fentanyl-laced product, you can be charged with manslaughter or murder.” It was not until the November 2024 passage of Proposition 36 that these advisements are now required by law. However, the Tuolumne County District Attorney’s Office began including those advisements in our complaints and requiring signed or acknowledge forms of the advisement since 2023. Fentanyl continues to be a pressing public safety issue with fentanyl related poisonings continuing to plague our community. The District Attorney’s Office, along with our law enforcement partners, are committed to investigating and prosecuting these types of crimes.
If you have any information regarding drug sales in our community, please contact the TNT tip line at (209) 533-5884.
For more information, please contact Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Novelli at (209) 588-5450.
