LOS ANGELES — A former U.S. Marine lance corporal pleaded guilty Friday to a felony drug offense in connection with the 2020 fentanyl-related death of a fellow Marine at a party in Compton.
Anthony Ruben Whisenant, 24, admitted to using a cellphone to facilitate a drug transaction that led to the overdose death of another Marine, identified in court documents as L.M. Whisenant faces a maximum sentence of four years in federal prison when he is sentenced on May 7.
Prosecutors said Whisenant, then stationed at Camp Pendleton, ordered fentanyl-laced pills from dealer Gustavo Jaciel Solis, 28, after seeing an advertisement on Snapchat. He, L.M., and another Marine, Ryan Douglas White, 27, picked up the drugs before attending a party, where L.M. ingested the pills and died shortly after.
Solis, accused of running a drug trafficking ring supplying narcotics to both civilians and Marines, pleaded guilty in April 2022 and faces a potential life sentence. White pleaded guilty in December 2024 to misprision of a felony and is set for sentencing in June.
The case is part of a broader federal crackdown on fentanyl distribution, which prosecutors say continues to fuel overdose deaths across the country.