Mexican Citizen Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Prison for Distributing Cocaine

SAN FRANCISCO—Yesterday, Alejandro Gonzalez was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison for his role in a large-scale cocaine deal, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced. The sentence, handed down by United States District Court Judge William Alsup, included a three-year period of supervised release. Gonzalez will be deported following his sentence.

On May 4, 2011, following a bench trial, Judge Alsup found Gonzalez guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and two counts of using a telephone to a commit a felony drug offense. During the trial, the facts showed that on Nov. 2, 2010, Gonzalez transported five kilograms of cocaine from Los Angeles to Modesto, Calif. After he arrived in Modesto, Gonzalez was arrested by an agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the cocaine was recovered from inside a stereo speaker in Gonzalez’s car. As shown at trial, Gonzalez used a cellular telephone to negotiate the cocaine deal, and many of the calls were to a person in the Northern District of California.

Aaron Wegner is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted the case, with the assistance of legal technician Erica Doerr. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by agents of the DEA together with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.

Further Information:

Case #: CR 10-0834 WHA

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.