previous/abebbebfbbfa

Cher's Alleged Drug Dealing Houseguest Busted for Fentanyl

Home / The Law / Cher's Alleged Drug Dealing Houseguest Busted for Fentanyl

By TheBlast Staff on September 30, 2018 at 7:34 PM PDT

The man living at Cher's mansion, who sparked a joint narcotics investigation from multiple agencies, was allegedly dealing a drug responsible for the death of some of entertainment's biggest stars.

According to the Ventura County Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit, Donovan Ruiz was arrested for his alleged involvement in the sale of fentanyl. Officials say Ruiz is the source of supplying the dangerous drug to residents of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties.

Law enforcement agencies from both Ventura County and Thousand Oaks coordinated for a two-week narcotics investigation into the 23-year-old man.

Article continues below advertisement

Cops allege that fentanyl sold by Ruiz was consumed by a victim in Thousand Oaks, who later died. On Thursday, when the search warrant was served at Cher's Malibu mansion, detectives seized evidence related to Ruiz's selling of the "illegal controlled substances."

The fentanyl connection is interesting, considering the synthetic opioid has become an epidemic and is responsible for celebrity deaths likePrince andTom Petty. In fact, Petty's Malibu mansion is only four miles down the road from Cher and is not the stereotypical location for such rampant drug activity.

For now, Ruiz has been charged for the sale of a controlled substance, but we're told that additional charging enhancements related to the overdose death are expected.

Article continues below advertisement

Sources close to Ruiz tell The Blast he is a "good person" who would "never sell drugs that would kill someone."

His bond has been set at $500,000 but it's unclear if he will get bailed out before his hearing next week.

Article continues below advertisement
Donovan Ruiz Cher Malibu Home
Article continues below advertisement

Getty

Article continues below advertisement