Encinitas pro skateboarder and his girlfriend admit to federal drug trafficking charges

A professional skateboarder and his then-girlfriend — both of whom hail from Encinitas — pleaded guilty today to federal drug trafficking charges involving the distribution and sale of heroin and methamphetamine.

Robert Lorifice, 31, and Elizabeth Alexandra Landis, 27, admitted selling drugs out of Lorifice’s home, where investigators last fall found 193 grams of meth, 231.6 grams of heroin, more than 800 Xanax pills, Roxicodone pills, marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, along with materials used in drug sales, such as a digital scale, three cellphones and $16,824 in cash.

When a search warrant was served at the Encinitas residence last Sept. 26, Lorifice didn’t answer the door. Instead, he flushed methamphetamine and other drugs down his toilet, and also poured drugs into the sink in his master bedroom bathroom, according to federal prosecutors.

Lorifice’s home was searched again in December. On that occasion, Lorifice attempted to flush a “tennis-ball sized chunk of methamphetamine down the toilet,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Authorities also seized around 31 grams of black tar heroin, 18 grams of meth and $10,926 in cash from drug sales, prosecutors said.

Lorifice and Landis both pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of heroin with intent to distribute and are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 22. Both counts carry a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.

“It’s unfortunate that a public figure who is admired by kids chose to travel down this road,” U.S. Attorney Robert Brewer said. “We have a very big methamphetamine problem in our county right now, plus a nationwide opioid epidemic is raging, and we are going after anyone who sells the poison that is destroying lives and families and communities.”