Tenderloin Fentanyl Dealer Sentenced to More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking Offenses
Co-Defendants Sentenced to Three-and-a-Half Years and Two Years
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.– Maria Valle-Rodriguez, 47, a Honduran national, was sentenced yesterday to 135 months (11 years and three months) in federal prison for drug trafficking offenses in the Bay Area. Her co-defendants, Emilson Valle-Zuniga, 33, and Jonsan Valle-Rodriguez, 31, both Honduran nationals, were previously sentenced on May 21, 2025, to federal prison terms of 42 months and 24 months, respectively. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley handed down all three sentences.
A federal grand jury indicted all three defendants in December 2023, and all three pleaded guilty on Aug. 21, 2024. Maria Valle-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to distribution of 40 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing fentanyl, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Valle-Zuniga pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Jonsan Valle-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
According to their plea agreements, between August and December 2023, Maria Valle-Rodriguez, Valle-Zuniga, and Jonson Valle-Rodriguez engaged in a drug trafficking conspiracy with each other and unindicted co-conspirators to sell fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other controlled substance in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco and in Oakland. Maria Valle-Rodriguez admitted to engaging in multiple sales of fentanyl and/or methamphetamine. For part of this time, Maria Valle-Rodriguez had multiple vehicles registered to her name that she and her codefendants used to drive from Oakland into the Tenderloin District during the nighttime hours to deal drugs.
The defendants, who are related, lived together with several minor children in an apartment in Oakland that was used for drug trafficking. Maria Valle-Rodriguez admitted knowing that there was fentanyl in the apartment where she resided with several minor children.
On Dec. 12, 2023, law enforcement executed search warrants on the defendants’ residence and vehicles connected to and being driven by them. In total, law enforcement recovered approximately eight pounds of fentanyl and fentanyl analogue, two gross pounds of methamphetamine, as well as over $127,000 in cash at the premises and in the vehicles connected to the drug trafficking conspiracy.
United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian and DEA Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris made the announcement.
Maria Valle-Rodriguez had been out of custody pending sentencing so she could receive medical care. While out on bond, she was arrested on April 29, 2025, by San Francisco Police Department officers at an apartment where officers were executing a search warrant related to a drug trafficking operation. Large quantities of drugs were found at the apartment where Maria Valle-Rodriguez was residing. A minor child was also living at the residence.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Corley also sentenced Maria Valle-Rodriguez to a four-year period of supervised release. Valle-Zuniga and Jonsan Valle-Rodriguez were each sentenced to a three-year term of supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ivana Djak is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Lance Libatique and Gabriel Flesher. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the DEA.