Prosecutor: Man found near Old High with fentanyl stashed in baby bottle

A Wichita Falls police officer testified Tuesday he watched a man near Wichita Falls High School with a satchel around his neck sidle up to cars and spend a couple of seconds at the window before they drove off — classic signs of drug dealing.

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Joshua Christopher Pantoja is on trial for accusations he had hundreds of illegal fentanyl pills on hand to peddle in 2022. It was a year that saw Wichita Falls hammered with a deadly toll from the powerful opioid.

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Police found what they believe was approximately 2,000 counterfeit Percocet pills, actually containing fentanyl, after they arrested Pantoja, 29, and served a search warrant June 6, 2022, according to allegations.

Fentanyl, weapon found

The satchel contained a plastic bag and a baby bottle stocked with suspected fentanyl pills, according to allegations. They were stamped with an "M" on one side and "30" on the other to make them look like Percocet.

Police served a search warrant the same day on Pantoja's home in the 1600 block of Britain Street.

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They found more pills, suspected cocaine, a semiautomatic rifle, a digital scale and a 16-year-old girl who had been dating Pantoja over a year, according to allegations in court records. She later told an investigator she had a baby with him.

He is charged with manufacture or delivery of over 200 but less than 400 grams of fentanyl. The total weight of the suspected drug police found was 249 grams. The first-degree felony is punishable by up to life in prison.

Pantoja has pleaded not guilty to the fentanyl charge he is on trial for, a cocaine-related charge and a sexual assault charge. The cocaine-related charge was dismissed, pending its refiling in a separate indictment.

Anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Pantoja was being held Tuesday in the Wichita County Detention Center on $140,000 for the fentanyl and sexual assault charges, according to online jail records.

Testimony from former organized crime officer

Jury selection began Monday before 78th District Judge Meredith Kennedy, and 12 jurors were seated Tuesday. Wichita County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Vrecek gave opening arguments Tuesday afternoon.

The prosecutor told jurors they would hear Pantoja tell police he doesn't mess with fentanyl, indicating that it was dangerous and showing he knew what he was doing by dealing it.

Wichita County Assistant Public Defender Gant Grimes declined to present opening arguments Tuesday. Grimes can do that when the defense begins presenting its case.

The first witness the state called Tuesday was Wichita Falls police Officer Daniel Zimpel.

He told the jury he was a member of the organized crime unit back then and conducted surveillance of Pantoja before his arrest. He looked like he was dealing drugs.

Search warrant served

Officers took Pantoja into custody without incident as he walked down an alleyway near the home. SWAT officers served the search warrant at the home.

Zimpel took part in the search, finding a rifle under a blanket and a plastic bag of blue pills on the floor. The rifle had some ammunition in its 30-round magazine.

Zimpel testified that M30s on the street are usually counterfeit — not Percocet — and people who buy them know they are getting fentanyl.

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Fentanyl overdoses and murder

He told the jury the deadliest way to ingest the drug is to chop it up and snort it.

Zimpel testified, “2022 was really the year Wichita Falls had a major problem with overdoses on fentanyl.”

He thinks the city is seeing fewer fentanyl-related deaths this year.

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“Our community is doing the right thing and charging people with murder,” Zimpel told the jury.

In August 2022, Wichita County District Attorney John Gillespie and Wichita Falls police Chief Manuel Borrego declared war on fentanyl after the synthetic opioid claimed at least 15 lives in the city up to that point in 2022. Gillespie pledged to investigate fentanyl-related deaths as homicides.

It is of note that Andres Diaz snorted a fentanyl pill before he became unresponsive and died of an overdose in July 2022. Jasinto Jimenez, who sold Diaz's friend the pill she gave him, was sentenced to 45 years in prison for murder in September. It was perhaps the first such conviction in Texas.

'Three food groups'

While Grimes cross-examined Zimpel, he testified that during his six years in the organized crime unit, members focused on narcotics because that is a priority in Wichita Falls.

He said the Pantoja bust was a good one because of what officers found.

“If you have drugs, money, guns, that’s kind of the three food groups," Zimpel told the jury.

Seized money is divided up between the DA’s Office and Wichita Falls police, he testified.

Zimpel didn't recall if any rounds were chambered in the rifle.

Forensic scientist testifies

Bethany Schroeder, a forensic scientist, told the jury she tested samples of pills delivered as evidence in the case to the Texas Department of Public Safety Lab in Abilene.

During cross-examination by Grimes, she confirmed some evidence was mislabeled but not by her.

She also testified that multiple people have to be present to open a vault at the lab containing drugs such as suspected fentanyl.

“There was an incident with a former employee who stole drugs from a vault,” Schroeder told the jury, adding that was before she worked there.

Grimes followed a line of questioning to cast doubt on the reliability and thoroughness of Schroeder's analysis of pill samples.

They embarked on a detailed exploration of confidence levels, sample sizes, peaks in test results and her surprise about an apparent disparity in the weight of the pills.

She made a point during her testimony: Every pill she tested was positive for fentanyl.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent workhere. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Wichita Falls man accused of dealing fentanyl near Old High