Federal Jury Convicts San Jose Man of Possessing Methamphetamine for Distribution
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 17, 2012 |
SAN JOSE—A federal jury has convicted a San Jose man, Reynaldo Pedregon, Jr., of one count of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute it, United States Attorney MELINDA HAAG announced. The guilty verdict on Wednesday, January 11, followed a three-day jury trial before Senior U.S. District Court Judge D. Lowell Jensen in San Jose.
The evidence at trial showed that, on January 5, 2010, Reynaldo Pedregon was a fugitive and subject to an outstanding federal arrest warrant issued in December of 2009. At the time he absconded, Reynaldo 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 (USMS) located Reynaldo Pedregon at an address 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 1/4 pound of methamphetamine.
The conviction results in a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life. The government filed an information before trial under Title 21 United States Code section 851 alleging a prior felony drug offense conviction that may increase Pedregon’s mandatory minimum prison sentence to 20 years. The defendant’s sentence will be determined at his March 29, 2012, sentencing hearing before Judge Jensen. Pedregon’s sentence will be decided by the court after consideration of federal sentencing statutes and guidelines.
Pedregon has been in continuous custody since his arrest and will remain in federal custody until his March 29, 2012, sentencing before Judge Jensen in San Jose.
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 USMS, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the San Jose Police Department.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 10-0344 DLJ
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Web site at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.