United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FRESNO, Calif. - Alfonso Rios-Ayon, 44, a Mexican national, was sentenced on Monday by Chief U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to 20 years in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin announced.

According to court documents, between March 1, 2016, and June 29, 2016, Rios-Ayon conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine to various drug dealers and users in Kern County and elsewhere. On June 29, 2016, law enforcement agents conducted a controlled purchase of approximately 30 pounds of crystal methamphetamine at a ranch where Rios-Ayon lived in Pixley.  In the course of the operation, agents arrested Alfonso Rios-Ayon and Daniel Rios, 34, of Riverside. Law enforcement agents executed a search warrant at the residence and seized approximately 30 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, three firearms, multiple magazines and ammunition, and approximately $16,850 in cash.  Another co‑conspirator, Sergio Ortega-Maldonado, 46, a Mexican national was arrested when he attempted to re-enter the United States at the U.S.-Mexico border.

On March 27, 2017, Rios-Ayon pleaded guilty. His co-defendants pleaded guilty on July 10, 2017.  On September 25, 2017, Daniel Rios was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Sergio Ortega-Maldonado was sentenced to five years and four months in prison.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, the Southern Tri-County Task Force of the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking (HIDTA), the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’(ICE) Homeland Security (HSI), the California Department of Motor Vehicles Investigations, the Kern County Probation Department, and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian K. Delaney prosecuted the case.