Selma Meth Dealer Pleads Guilty
FRESNO, CA - Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Anthony D. Williams and United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Augustine Reyna, 31, of Selma, pleaded guilty today to distributing methamphetamine.
According to his plea agreement, Reyna and co-defendant Edwan Dablan, 36, of Kingsburg, sold approximately two ounces of methamphetamine on two separate occasions to a confidential source after the confidential source initially contacted Dablan for the drugs. On a third occasion, the confidential source contacted Reyna directly and Reyna sold another two ounces of high-purity methamphetamine to the confidential source for $2,700. The drug deals occurred in the Parlier area.
Reyna was charged in a 33-count indictment with Dablan and Dablan’s brother, Khamal Dablan, 24, of Selma, Manuel Vasquez, 29, a Fresno bail bondsman who resides in Selma, and Ribhi Fadel Abdel Fattah, aka Ribhi Fadel Abdelfattah, aka Henry Fattah, aka Hank Fattah, 32, of Kingsburg. Edwan Dablan is charged with the most serious of the drug crimes alleged: engaging in a series of ongoing drug deals involving at least five other people, a crime that carries a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years, a maximum prison term of life, and a fine of up to $2 million. Edwan and Khamal Dablan and Vasquez have entered not guilty pleas and are scheduled to appear in court for a status conference on December 12, 2011. The charges are only allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Earlier this year, Fattah pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was sentenced on March 21, 2011 to five years and 10 months in prison. All defendants in this case have been detained pretrial as flight risks and dangers to the community.
Reyna is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on January 23, 2012. He faces a mandatory minimum prison term of five years in prison and a maximum term of 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory sentencing factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This case is the product of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF) investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and the Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force. It is a High Intensity Drug Trafficking (HIDTA) initiative, which consists of law enforcement agents from the DEA, Fresno County Sheriff’s Office, Fresno Police Department, California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, Federal Bureau of Investigation, California Highway Patrol, and the HIDTA Investigative Support Center. The DEA, IRS and FMTF also coordinated their investigation with the Southwest Narcotics Enforcement Team of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office and Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement (MAGEC), which led a four-month street-level drug-buy program targeting individuals associated with the Dablan drug trafficking organization and resulting in 46 arrests, including the arrests of the federal defendants. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar is prosecuting the case.
