Attorney: Sheriff's accusation he sold drugs to inmates defamatory

A May 28 release by the San Bernardino Sheriff's Office claimed that attorney Bryan Fazio took drugs to the Central Detention Center, with the intent to sell. Fazio told IELaw.news by phone the release not only incorrect, but defamatory. "What criminal defense lawyer is stupid enough to bring a backpack full of drugs to a jail?" Fazio asked. The release claims that Fazio, stopped by sheriff's investigators after a visit with a client in the county jail, "was found to be in possession of various suspected narcotics and a digital scale." Fazio's driver, David Montrenes, was first contacted by sheriff's investigators while he was waiting for Fazio to conclude his visit. After the investigation, "search warrants were authored and served at their residences, where additional narcotics were located." The search of Fazio's residence did not result in any drugs being found, Fazio said. As proof, the attorney provided IELaw.news with a search warrant receipt. Under the category "items taken," the investigating officer wrote "None." No references to drugs were in the receipt. Although they were each booked on a count of bringing drugs into a jail or prison, no charges have since been filed. What the release leaves out, Fazio says, is that the drugs and the digital scale were in Montrenes' backpack, which deputies left in Fazio's possession. Montrenes, a former client of Fazio, drove Fazio to the jail because Fazio's cancer treatment, and health issues related to his time in military service, have left him unable to drive from Irvine to the jail. The backpack containing drugs was obviously Montrenes', Fazio said, considering it contained his car title, registration and car keys. No drugs were found on Fazio's person after he returned from jail, the attorney says. He disputed the possibility of him bringing drugs to the jail, considering he was searched when he entered the building. "I had no idea he had a backpack full of drugs," Fazio said. IELaw.news asked San Bernardino Sheriff's Department spokesperson Jenny Smith about the discrepancies between the department's story and Fazio's on Thursday afternoon. This publication specifically asked whether drugs were found on Fazio's person, whether Montrenes or Fazio agreed to have the car searched, what probable cause the deputies had to search the car, the type of narcotics found in the car and where the scale was found. The request also asked the department to explain the discrepancy between the accounts that drugs were found were found at Fazio's home, and to address Fazio's claim that the car was a gray Nissan Ultima, not a red Nissan Sentra as the release said. Smith said that no further information would be released. After asking why, Smith roped in a supervisor, who has not replied, possibly due to the federal holiday on Friday. Fazio, a Navy veteran, represents veterans in the veteran diversion court. He left his full-time work as a result of his intensive cancer treatments, helping clients part-time, until his job was terminated due to the sheriff's department release. "I make $115,000 a year. Why would I need to be a drug dealer?" Fazio said. Fazio believes he was targeted because of his disability due to his long-term cancer treatments and his status as a veteran, both of which are reflected in his license plate. The responding investigator challenged the legitimacy of Fazio's disability, Fazio said. "I was stumbling out of the car, it could have looked like I was under the influence," he said. Montrenes parked the car in a disability parking spot in the employee parking lot. The employee parking sign was hidden by a truck, Fazio said. After being booked, Fazio was taken to a hospital for a panic attack, exacerbated by his cancer treatments, he said. At the hospital, he was deprived of necessary medication.He also said that during the execution of the search warrant, his 70-year-old mother was placed in handcuffs. Fazio worked with Spencer Seyb before going to part-time work with Tammy Higgins of Fullerton, starting May 15, due to his cancer treatments. Due to the Sheriff Department's release, he no longer works at Higgins' firm. Fazio was a petty officer third class in the United States Navy, where he served from 2009 until 2012. He was medically discharged after developing stage 4 lymphoma cancer. Fazio joined the bar in 2017, after graduating from Whittier Law School. He joined Snyder Law for a year as an attorney consultant, providing support to veterans with Veteran Afffairs benefits. He then joined the Orange County Public Defender's Office as a law clerk. He worked for the Social Security Administration in Santa Ana from 2018 until 2020, then served on Riverside's Juvenile Defense Panel from Oct. 3, 2021, until March 14, 2025. He was a founding member of the Orange County Bar Association Veterans Committee, and has volunteered for the California Justice Veteran Project and the Veteran Legal Institute. "They have lied. They have defamed me. I have lost my job," Fazio said. The attorney said that the release was intentionally written as an attack on him. IELaw.news reached out to the email address listed as Fazio's on the State Bar website at the time of the press release's publication, but did not hear back until this week.