Drug Trafficker Sentenced, Admits No Role In 2 Overdose Deaths

CLEARWATER, FL — A 37-year-old Clearwater man will serve 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to distributing cocaine laced with fentanyl. The drugs resulted in two overdose deaths, but Jarran Riley was not charged in those deaths.

U.S. District Judge William F. Jung sentenced Riley earlier this month after he pleaded guilty on Dec. 9.

According to court documents, on June 5, 2019, around 10:30 p.m., detectives from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Dunedin Cove Motel regarding an opioid overdose death.

On the same day, detectives interviewed Heidi Kalous who admitted to selling the narcotics to the person who died. Motel video surveillance and phone records showed that Kalous had obtained the drugs from Riley. Riley later distributed drugs to confidential informants on two occasions in August 2019.

On Oct. 8, 2019, Riley was arrested for fleeing and eluding, a state offense, and was released on a bond the same day. About 14 hours after bonding out of state custody, Riley was captured on video surveillance selling drugs to a person who died less than five hours later from a multi-drug overdose. The following day, Riley was arrested again by local law enforcement.

On Nov. 15, Riley posted bond and was released from state custody. While on bond following the deaths of two people due to drugs he sold, Riley continued to distribute the deadly combination of cocaine laced with fentanyl on Jan. 21, 23 and 28, 2020, according to detectives.

On Feb. 12, 2020, agents executed a federal search warrant at Riley’s home, and Riley was taken into federal custody.

Kalous was also charged with drug distribution offenses. On Feb. 24, 2022, she was sentenced to eight years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and the Clearwater Police Department as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation.

Correction: Jarran Riley's attorney, Mark P. Rankin, said Riley pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement that specifically omitted the two overdose deaths. Those deaths were not considered when Riley was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.