Federal Judge Sentences San Jose Man to 20 Years in Prison for Possessing Methamphetamine for Distribution

SAN JOSE, CA—Reynaldo Pedregon, Jr. was sentenced yesterday to 20 years in prison for possessing methamphetamine for distribution, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

Pedregon was convicted on January 11, 2012, following a three-day jury trial, for possessing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it. The evidence at trial showed that on January 5, 2010, Pedregon was a fugitive and subject to an outstanding federal arrest warrant issued in December 2009. At the time he absconded, Pedregon was under the supervision of the United States District Court Probation Office, following a prior conviction for a drug trafficking offense. Deputies from the U.S. Marshals Service located Pedregon in San Jose on January 5, 2010, and he was arrested without incident. When U.S. Probation officers later searched the room in which Pedregon had been staying, they discovered approximately ¼ pound of methamphetamine.

The sentence was handed down by Senior U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen following a jury trial on one count in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1). Judge Jensen also sentenced the defendant to a 10-year period of supervised release. The defendant began serving the sentence immediately. Pedregon was previously convicted in 1998 of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine for distribution, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846 and 841(a)(1), and was sentenced to 12 ½ years in prison.

Allison Marston Danner and Grant Fondo are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who prosecuted the case, with the assistance of legal technicians Nina Burney and Kamille Singh. The prosecution is the result of a joint investigation by the Probation Office of the United States District Court and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the San Jose Police Department.