Federal authorities say a Fresno man stole 12 gallons of the "date rape" drug GHB after he impersonated a fellow employee of a company that cleans up illegal drug labs.
Jeffrey Alexander Lassotovitch, 27, pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Fresno to two charges related to the incident, including possessing GHB -- or gamma hydroxy butyrate -- with the intention to distribute it.
The fate of the company Lassotovitch worked for, Fresno-based PARC Environmental, isn't clear.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marlon Cobar, who is prosecuting the case, said PARC Environmental lost its contract with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. When asked if the company was under investigation, Cobar declined to comment.
PARC Environmental attorney Anthony Capozzi said his client has not been informed of any action regarding its contract.
The case started in June 2008 when agents from the DEA and Immigration and Customs Enforcement discovered a lab in a San Francisco storage unit.
Authorities contacted PARC, which sent three employees to do the cleanup.
One of them was Lassotovitch, who was not authorized to participate in DEA-contracted lab cleanups. He gave a different name -- the name of a PARC employee who was authorized to do the cleanup work.
Authorities later determined that some GHB was missing from the San Francisco lab.
Last August, agents with the Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force and the DEA raided Lassotovitch's home in the 5300 block of South Maple Avenue, where they found about 12 gallons of GHB.
"Given the public-health dangers associated with the use of GHB, particularly in the context of ingesting the substance unwittingly, our office takes this case seriously," Cobar said.
Lassotovitch declined to comment.
U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii set Lassotovitch's sentencing for Oct. 13. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in federal prison and a $2 million fine.
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