Father Gets Prison for Using Son in Drug Deals

A North Hollywood man was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for using his 9-year-old son to help him sell heroin.

Police arrested Antolin Chaidez on Oct. 6, after he sold $20 of black tar heroin to undercover police for the second time in the parking lot of a Sun Valley fast-food restaurant.

Investigators said the boy translated to Spanish what the undercover officer said during the deals. But they suspect the child also played a larger role. He was seen handing what investigators believe were drugs to two unidentified men after they gave his father cash.

“What they found was that whenever [Chaidez] was out and about doing what they suspected was drug deals, his son was with him,” said Assistant Dist. Atty. David Mintz. “Their opinion was that [his son] was handling transactions.”

Mintz said child welfare authorities have begun custody proceedings to keep the child from his father.

Chaidez was charged with six felony counts of selling heroin and possession with intent to sell, with the aggravating factor of using a minor to sell or carry the drugs. He had faced up to 16 years in prison.

Chaidez received the four-year sentence in exchange for pleading no contest.

Mintz said the deal was suggested by Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ashmann.

“We had asked for more time, but I don’t think the sentence was out of line,” Mintz said.

Ashmann said the sentence would have been much lighter had Chaidez not used his son to help make drug deals. “Had his son not been involved, he would have gotten the standard 180 days,” Ashmann said.

Chaidez accepted the offer and pleaded no contest on Tuesday.