Clovis man pleads guilty to scheme to sell fentanyl

FRESNO – A young man from Clovis recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy of distributing and possessing fentanyl, along with the intent to sell it.

Announced by the U.S. Attorney’s office on Feb. 24, Wakley is scheduled for sentencing by U.S. District Judge Kirk E. Sherriff on June 23, 2025, and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The actual sentencing will be decided by the court based on a variety of statutory factors. 

The court documents state that between Nov. 18, 2024 and Dec. 9, 2024, Wakley conspired with Austin Lloyd Kerns, a 53-year-old from Fresno, and others to distribute fentanyl. An overdose death investigation found that Wakley connected the victim Kerns, who sold the victim fentanyl pills multiple times over 48 hours.

Kerns’ charges are still pending, and he is scheduled for a status conference on March 26, 2025 before Magistrate Judge Barbara A. McAuliffe. As of now these charges are simply allegations, and Kerns will be presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 

This case is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.), a program created by the Justice Department in 2018 to reduce the supply and distribution of deadly synthetic opioids.