Last Defendants Sentenced for Central Valley Drug Conspiracy

FRESNO, Calif. — Ignacio Alcantar Torres, 34, of McFarland, was sentenced today to 10 years and 10 months in prison, and on Jan. 22, 2024, Alexis Mendiola, 38, of North Hollywood, was sentenced to one year in prison for conspiring to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. 

According to court documents, on four separate occasions, Alcantar served as a courier for Pedro Delgado-Montenegro, 43, a former resident of Porterville, and delivered 1,150 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and one-half pound of methamphetamine to an undercover officer for a total of $5,940. Delgado-Montenegro also arranged for Mendiola, his “pill source,” to deliver to an undercover officer 1,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl. Alcantar and Mendiola are the last of eight defendants to be sentenced for the conspiracy.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Porterville Police Department, the Coalinga Police Department, and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar prosecuted the case.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.