Selma Meth Dealer Sentenced to 20 Years

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Senior U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger sentenced Ricardo Enrique Vega, aka Javier Martinez, aka Ricardo E. Vela, aka “El Guero,”36, an illegal alien from El Salvador, formerly of Selma, to 20 years in prison for possessing crystal methamphetamine with intent to distribute. After serving his sentence, Vega will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for five years, unless he is deported to El Salvador.

The sentence follows Vega’s conviction by a jury at the end of June. The evidence at trial established that Vega, the owner of Vega Concrete Pumping and a convicted drug felon, negotiated with an undercover detective to sell crystal methamphetamine to him for distribution in Washington State. Vega was arrested after obtaining two pounds of crystal methamphetamine, worth more than $35,000.

This case is the product of a Fresno Methamphetamine Task Force (FMTF) investigation. The FMTF is a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Initiative (HIDTA), consisting of law enforcement agents from the the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); California Department of Justice, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE); California Highway Patrol (CHP); Fresno Police Department (FPD); Fresno County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO); Madera County Sheriff’s Department (UCSD); and Merced County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Karen Escobar and Alyson Berg prosecuted the case.