FBI accuses South Lake Tahoe man in 2024 fentanyl poisoning deaths

A South Lake Tahoe man has been named in connection with the Feb. 12, 2024, fentanyl poisoning of four people at a 2024 Super Bowl party.

The Record-Courier has contacted the mothers of Clifford and Adam Joy and Keely Pereira in connection with the news. Abraham Lemus also died from the fentanyl-laced cocaine at the party.

Arrested in connection with the incident was Timothy ‘Frog’ Austin Pannell, 31, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Sacramento Field Office.

The FBI took Pannell into custody on Friday in South Lake Tahoe with the help of the South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Probation, and El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office.

According to court documents, Pannell, a.k.a. “Frog,” allegedly sold fentanyl that he represented as cocaine to two of the men in the parking lot of a church in South Lake Tahoe, on the night of Feb. 11, 2024.

The charge against Pannell is an allegation. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The Joy brothers’ mother Daisy Joy Bankofier said she found out Pannell was charged from The Record-Courier.

Bankofier has said from the beginning that her sons were poisoned.

Pereira’s mother Gabrielle Weetman said she is meeting with prosecutors where she said she expects murder charges to be brought.

The group purchased what they thought was cocaine, but it turned out to be laced with fentanyl. 

Clifford Joy's wife, survivor Katrina Joy told The R-C that she awoke to find the four down and a fifth person affected by the drug.