BAKERSFIELD, Calif . – Leonard Velazquez-Martinez, 50, of Minnesota, and Joseph Andrade, 38, of Bakersfield, were arrested Monday for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. At the time of his arrest, Andrade was employed as a correctional officer at Wasco...

SACRAMENTO, Calif . – A grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Thursday that added money laundering charges to six defendants first charged in 2017 in a scheme to use money from China to buy houses to grow marijuana, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. Charged with money laundering are...

FRESNO, Calif . – On June 17, 2019, Carlos Montano, aka “Loco,” 29, of Fresno, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill to 21 years and 10 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of a firearm and interstate transportation for prostitution...

SACRAMENTO, Calif . – A federal grand jury returned a four-count indictment today against Arturo Zavaleta, 39, of Mexico, charging him with trafficking in heroin, methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime, United States Attorney McGregor Scott announced. According to court documents, on June 3, 2019...

SEATTLE - Three members of an international drug trafficking organization were sentenced on June 18, 2019, in U.S. District Court in Seattle to prison terms ranging from 24 to 32 months for distributing more than a thousand kilograms of illegal marijuana. The defendants pleaded guilty in March 2019, admitting in...

PORTLAND, Ore.—Osasuyi Kenneth Idumwonyi, 58, of Houston, Texas was sentenced on June 3, 2019, to 108 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for illegally distributing opioids. According to court documents, in January 2015, Idumwonyi along with codefendant and former nurse practitioner Julie Ann DeMille opened the Fusion...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sixteen members and associates of a prison-based gang have been charged after a long-running investigation into drug trafficking and murders inside and outside of California’s prisons. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott, and Special Agent in...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Eddy Steven Sandoval Lopez, 23, a Nicaraguan national residing in Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. According to court documents, Sandoval Lopez distributed cocaine and marijuana on a darknet site, Dream Market, using the vendor accounts “CokeWave,” “SafeDealsDirect,” and “HerbanFarmer.” The Dream Market...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Two California men have been sentenced for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy to transport methamphetamine and heroin from the Lower 48 to Ketchikan for distribution. Arthur Castillo, 32, of Fresno, California, and Alfonso Francisco Sandoval, 32, of Clovis, California, were both sentenced in Juneau on...

SPOKANE, Wash. – Rosalio Emmanuel Sanchez, age 33, of Pasco, Washington, was sentenced on May 29, 2019, after having been convicted after a 5-day jury trial in March 2019, of one count of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of...