Another Example of How Judge (Candidate) Patrick Thompson Is Soft on Fentanyl Dealers

How many people died on our streets because of Thompson's aversion to pretrial custody?

In 2023, there were 806 accidental overdose lives lost in San Francisco—the bulk from the usage of fentanyl.  Those deaths from overdoses were 15 times greater than San Francisco’s homicides (54) over the same period.  Both the selling of fentanyl and murders share the same required element of a crime: they both involve an intentional act.  Yet, because overdose deaths lack the gruesome violence of a homicide, some San Francisco judges are viewing fentanyl sales as merely an economic crime forced on immigrants who reside at the bottom of the of socioeconomic scale.

Despite the tragedy of the fentanyl deaths, there is a political narrative that by SFPD creating headwinds to fentanyl dealers’ businesses, counterintuitively they are increasing overdose deaths.  That thought process challenges the lighthouse analogy, whereby you don’t tear down the lighthouse just because ships still crash on the rocks. What’s more important than how many ships crash, is how many ships the lighthouse saved.

Ebir Martinez was born in Honduras, lives in Oakland, and commutes to the Tenderloin to sell a smorgasbord of narcotics.  Always within 100 yards of Eddy and Larkin Streets, he is a professional drug dealer and an unreliable court defendant. 

Ebir’s Arrest #1

On February 22, 2022 (George Washington’s birthday), Ebir sold methamphetamine to Narcotics Officer Jason Nord on the 600 block of Eddy Street.  When Ebir was arrested, SFPD confiscated from him approximately 2 ounces of fentanyl ($1,200 street retail value),^[1] heroin, cocaine, and additional methamphetamine.^[2]  A criminal case was filed but Ebir was released.

Ebir’s Arrest #2

At approximately 4 pm, on July 4, 2023 (our nation’s birthday) a citizen called to complain about the abundance of dealers at Eddy and Larkin Streets.  In response, Tenderloin Station’s Officer Louis Hargreaves took up binoculars and watched as Ebir made two narcotic transactions.  SFPD officers arrested Ebir and on his person found fentanyl, methamphetamine, and $376 in cash.^[3]

Ebir also had an outstanding arrest warrant of $30,000 for pulling a no-show at court related to Arrest #1.   Da ya wanna bet Ebir would also blow off his mandatory court appearance on this new case?  If you guessed yes, you’re right, he did!

Ebir’s Arrest #3

On December 18, 2023, just before 2 pm, Tenderloin Station officer Chris Barajas was conducting surveillance when he observed Ebir make two more transactions with two different buyers at, you guessed it, Eddy and Larkin Streets.   From Ebir’s movements, it became obvious to Barajas that Ebir was working with a partner.  Both individuals were placed under arrest and searched.   SFPD (again) found half an ounce of fentanyl ($600 retail value), cocaine, methamphetamine, and $534 on Ebir.^[4]  The half-ounce of fentanyl constituted approximately 30-50 lethal doses of the drug according to a person designated as an expert on fentanyl by San Francisco courts.

Ebir attended his January 8, 2024 court date in Judge Patrick Thompson’s Department 12 and was represented by, (apparently) private counsel, Ean Vizzi.  He now had two separate warrants for his arrest base on his two no-shows for Arrest #1 and Arrest #2.  But no worries, Arrest #3 came before Judge Thompson, who has a reputation for not holding fentanyl dealers in custody before their trial, despite the obvious danger present to the safety of the public. 

I previously wrote how Thompson articulated his philosophy on pretrial custodies in the Jefferson Arrechanga case:^[5]

Because recidivism, the data show, that when people are held in custody, the likelihood of recidivism goes up potentially.  And even in lawyer math, that suggests that it’s compounded; and so that there’s a greater risk when you keep people in custody and don’t allow them to pursue legal means to ameliorate their lives.  And that has an adverse effect on public safety.  

In the Arrechanga case, Thompson set the tone for the remainder of his term.  He wasn’t going to address the adverse effects on safety that occur when he allowed fentanyl dealers to continue selling poison.  In Thompson’s world, the dealers are the victims, and the damages they caused to the public are a secondary issue.  

The court transcripts show that Vizzi painted a weepy picture that Ebir’s 4-year-old son was “having an operation the next day.”   Despite his three open cases, Judge Thompson released Ebir back into the public with GPS ankle monitoring and a double-secret release condition to stay-away from the 700 block of Eddy Street.^[6]  It should be noted that Assistant District Attorney Reve Bautisa did not object to Thompson’s soft treatment of Ebir.  First, an objection by the prosecution was not required for Thompson to hold Ebir in custody, and second, considering Thompson’s lenient record, Bautista probably recognized launching an objection was fruitless.  Ebir—a literal merchant of death—walked out of court despite his penchant for not showing up.

Ebir’s Arrest #4:

Last week, on Valentine’s Day, at approximately 8 pm, the SFPD Narcotics unit served a search warrant on Ebir on the 500 block of Eddy Street, where he was posted-up despite Thompson’s meaningless stay-away-order.  Ebir had half an ounce of cocaine on his person. 

SFPD also possessed a search warrant for Ebir’s roommate, Eduardo Mendez, who was arrested the same day on the 500 block of Ellis.  Mendez had in his possession, five ounces of fentanyl ($3,000 retail street value), four ounces of methamphetamine, an ounce of cocaine, half an ounce of heroin, and other various narcotics.

Then, pursuant to the search warrant, SFPD went to Ebir’s and Mendez residence in Oakland.  At the residence were a 5-year-old (presumably the child he was so concerned about in Thompson’s  court) and an 11-year-old unsupervised by any adult.  At their residence, Ebir and Mendez had left almost a kilo of methamphetamine,^[7] four ounces of Fentanyl, and $5,600 in cash with the unprotected children.  (A child requires a much smaller exposure to fentanyl than an adult for it to be fatal.)

Preempting the Boudin/Public Defender’s Office’s fable about dealers being trafficked

In 2021, District Attorney Chesa Boudin claimed, without substantiation, that most of the Honduran drug dealers in the Tenderloin have been trafficked here.  To get ahead of this common San Francisco Public Defender arugment that Ebir and Mendez had been trafficked, SFPD interviewed them.^[8]  Mendez said that nobody forces him to sell narcotics and that he works for himself.  As a self-employed businessman, he earns a 20% markup on the fentanyl he sells, and a 67% markup on selling methamphetamine. 

Mendez said he works an 8-hour day, six days per week.  He makes $500 per day, which he equated to $3,000 per week.  We know there is zero chance Mendez is paying income taxes on the cash narcotics transactions.

Through sources, I learned that Judge Thompson earns $238,399 per year.  Thompson’s salary translates to $165,070 per year after taxes, or $3,174 per week.  Even in CPA math, that means the Harvard grad is only making $35 per day more than Mendez.^[9]

Why is this important?  Because San Francisco public defenders frequently argue that selling fentanyl is an economic crime and that the dealers themselves are actually the victims. This fiction appeals to uber left leaning judges like Thompson, who are seeking any rationalization to release fentanyl dealers out of custody.  Dealers not held in custody means the public is less protected.

Disrupting the volume of fentanyl sales in San Francisco

There are two frictional costs that reduce a fentanyl dealers’ net income: robberies and being restricted from selling.  One criminal robbing another criminal almost always goes unreported, so it is difficult to gauge the detrimental effects of robberies to the fentanyl trade.  The second cost is the loss of income when a dealer spends time in jail either before his trial or after he is convicted.  You can’t make money while you’re in jail. Thus, custody is a deterrent to profiting from fentanyl, which renders SFPD’s efforts potentially fruitful if judges apply logic and objectivity.

By not holding Ebir in custody pretrial, despite his prior cases and spotty record of court attendance, Judge Thompson undermined the lighthouse effect of SFPD’s enforcement.  If Ebir’s sales volume is like Mendez’, in the 37 days he was out of custody, thanks to Thompson, he made approximately 2,775 transactions that generated a gross revenue of $55,500—just in fentanyl.^[10]  By the way, on an annual basis, that’s 22,500 transactions equaling $450,000 in gross sales.  A lot of money and a lot of dead San Franciscans.

You would have to suspend disbelief to accept that no one died on San Francisco streets as a direct result of the additional 2,775 transactions Ebir was able to make because of Judge Thompson’s aversion to custody and public safety.   Despite his leniency, ironically, Thompson portrays himself on his campaign website, “As a judge I run my courtroom ‘by the book,’ because everyone needs to know we follow the law, hold everyone accountable, and let the facts and law determine outcomes—not politics.”   His actions in Ebir’s case demonstrate a different story.  I hope the parents who lost loved one to fentanyl because of the additional 2,775 transactions Judge Thompson allowed Ebir to make appreciate how he defines “accountability.”

Fortunately, in a time when we need more advocates for lighthouses and fewer champions of rocks, Judge Thompson’s seat is being challenged by Assistant District Attorney Jean Roland on March 5, 2024.

My previous articles.

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^[1] The street value of narcotics was based on SFPD’s interview that appears later in this article.

^[2] SFPD Incident # 220 212 313

^[3] SFPD Incident # 230 462 038

^[4] SFPD Incident # 230 886 626

^[5] August 26, 2022, Department 9.  Court #:22 009486.

^[6] All Ebir’s arrests occurred between the 500 and 600 blocks of Eddy Street.  To issue a stay-away-order (per the court transcripts) for the 700 block of Eddy Street is pure sloppiness.

^[7] 771.5 grams.

^[8] Both Mendez and Ebir waived their rights.

^[9] And more than all the SFPD officers that arrested him.

^[10] And even in CPA math, assuming an income of $500 per day, with a mix of 50% coming from fentanyl sales equals $250 per day.  At a 20% markup, that means that Ebir had to sell $1,500 per day in fentanyl to net $250 per day.  Multiply $1,500 daily gross sales by 37 days equals $55,500 in sales for the period.  At $20 per sale, that equals 2,775 customer transactions for the period.