South Bay methamphetamine trafficker sentenced to 10 years in prison
SAN FRANCISCO – Alejandro Ramirez-Suarez was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and related charges announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and DEA Special Agent in Charge Chris Nielsen. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh.
A federal jury convicted Suarez, 38, of the charges on Aug. 17, 2018. According to the evidence submitted at the trial, Suarez was a distributor in a methamphetamine trafficking network operating in the San Jose area in 2013 and 2014. Specifically, co-defendant Juan Cervantes Aguilar provided crystal methamphetamine to Suarez who distributed the product to his own customers, as well as Cervantes’s customers. For example, in a series of calls and text messages on March 22, 2014, Suarez ordered “a hand” (i.e., five kilograms) from Cervantes and then Cervantes met Suarez to deliver the drugs. A few days later, Cervantes and Suarez arranged for Suarez to pay for the methamphetamine. After selling the product, Suarez repaid Cervantes in cash proceeds from the drug trafficking.
The evidence further demonstrated that, on occasion, Suarez assisted Cervantes in other ways. For example, Suarez procured acetone for use in the crystal methamphetamine manufacturing process and wired money to other co-conspirators in Mexico.
A federal grand jury indicted Suarez on April 14, 2016, charging him with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 500 grams and more of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii). On Aug. 17, 2018, after a five-day jury trial, a federal jury convicted Suarez of this charge.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Koh ordered Suarez to serve a five-year period of supervised release. Suarez has been in custody since the Aug. 17, 2018, conviction, and will begin serving his sentence immediately.
Cervantes pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme on Sept. 20, 2017. On April 4, 2018, Judge Koh sentenced Cervantes to serve 156 months in prison to be followed by a 5-year period of supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Katherine Wawrzyniak and Shailika Kotiya are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Laurie Worthen, Linda Love and Kolin Singh. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA. This case was investigated and prosecuted by member agencies of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
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