Man Pleads Not Guilty to Using Son, 9, to Sell Drugs

A North Hollywood man who allegedly used his 9-year-old son as his drug courier and translator pleaded not guilty Wednesday to half a dozen felony counts, including using a minor to sell drugs.

Antoline Chaidez, 34, was ordered held on $75,000 bail by Los Angeles Municipal Commissioner Gerald Richardson. He is in custody at the county Men’s Central Jail downtown.

If convicted of all charges, including possession and sale of heroin, Chaidez faces 13 years in state prison. His next court appearance, a preliminary hearing, is scheduled Oct. 21 in San Fernando Municipal Court.

Lt. Bob Warren of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Valley Narcotics Bureau said police arrested Chaidez on Monday afternoon after he sold $20 worth of black tar heroin to an undercover officer in the parking lot of a Sun Valley fast-food restaurant near Sunland Boulevard and San Fernando Road.

During the transaction, police said, the boy acted as a translator between the officer and the defendant, who spoke no English. Warren said police believe that the boy has acted as a courier for his father on other occasions too.

“We have information that he used his child when he went about the business of delivering his drugs,” Warren said. “We also have information the 9-year-old would carry the drugs while the two were traveling in the car together.”

Chaidez had been under surveillance at least three days by the time he was arrested, authorities said.

Later, police searched his residence in the 12000 block of Runnymede Street, where they recovered drug paraphernalia, Warren said.

The search also led to the arrests of two other men, Ismael and Jesus Lopez, ages 42 and 21, on suspicion of possessing a kilogram of cocaine and two handguns, Warren said. The Lopez brothers are alleged drug suppliers, although the connection, if any, to Chaidez remains unclear, authorities said.

Over the years, Warren said, he has seen dealers use their children by hiding their drugs in diaper bags or strollers. “But I’ve never seen a dealer act in concert with a child to distribute narcotics,” he said.

“He should have been in school,” Warren said. “Apparently the father had just moved from East Los Angeles to North Hollywood and [the son] hadn’t been enrolled in school yet. The boy thought he was on vacation.”