Eastern District of California Blog

EDCA Indictment Charges 21 Defendants with Drug Trafficking

Two weeks after federal officials announced charges against members of the Aryan Brotherhoodprison gang in an alleged conspiracy to order murders, sell drugs and smuggle cell phones, new charges have been filed against another prison gang believed to be coordinating methamphetamine sales from a Central Valley prison.

Federal court documents unsealed Tuesday charge 21 defendants – some of them allegedly operating out of their cells at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga – with conspiracy to sell and possess methamphetamine.

The charges, filed in two criminal complaints, are aimed at crippling the operations of the Nuestra Familia gang, which operates out of Pleasant Valley and is believed to be flooding Kings and Tulare counties with sales of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana.

Sac Bee, 6/18/19

 

Feds Bust Large Drug Ring in Stockton

Federal agents investigating the spring 2016 fentanyl overdoses of dozens of people in the Sacramento region – including 12 who died – have broken up what they say was a massive pill-making operation in Stockton that was selling thousands of tablets containing fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine.

Eight people have been named in the case, which is outlined in a detailed 99-page criminal complaint unsealed in federal court in Sacramento on Thursday following a three-year investigation that used undercover sources, telephone wiretaps, intercepted email messages and hidden cameras.

The case, spelled out in an affidavit from U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration special agent Matthew T. Clayton, began with an anonymous phone call to investigators about a Stockton man the caller said was ordering pill presses, dies and drugs over the internet from China and selling counterfeit Xanax and other pills throughout Stockton, Sacramento and the Bay Area.

Sacramento Bee, 5/16/19; see alsoCBS Sacramento, 5/16/19

Feds Charge "Dark Web" Drug Dealing and Money Laundering

A global dragnet to take down a worldwide drug marketplace on the dark web landed charges Thursday against four men in federal court in California, including one in Sacramento.

Marcos Paulo De Oliveira-Annibale, 29, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, known by his online moniker “MED3LIN,” was charged in U.S. District Court in Sacramento with federal drug distribution and money laundering charges connected to the Wall Street Marketplace, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency announced Friday in a news release.

Sac Bee, 3/4/19

Vallejo Senior Home Owners Arrested for Producing Meth Pills With Tesla Logo, Trump Likeness

A wife and husband who own and operate an elderly care facility in Vallejo were arrested for allegedly producing methamphetamine pills that featured the Tesla logo, Kool-Aid’s smiling pitcher and President Trump’s name and likeness, authorities said Friday.

Roselle Cipriano, 36, and Henry Benson, 37, were taken into custody Thursday at their business, Genesis Care Home for the Elderly, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The couple face federal charges of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine.

SF Chronicle, 2/8/19

Two Sacramento Guilty Verdicts Last Week

On November 14, a jury found the defendant guilty of 8 counts of preparing fraudulent tax returns in U.S. v. Bedoy, No. 2:16-CR-0166-KJM after a 6-day jury trial.  The next day, in U.S. v. Macias, No. 2:15-CR-0125-GEB, another jury convicted the defendant of cocaine trafficking charges but acquitted him of the 924(c) gun charge that carried a mandatory consecutive sentence.  [Updated 11/26/18]

Feds Arrest 16 Alleged MS-13 Gang Members On Drug Trafficking Charges

"A total of 16 alleged MS-13 members were arraigned Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Federal Court in Fresno before Federal Judge Sheila K. Oberto. They all face charges for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, and possession of controlled substances for distribution."  Fresno Bee, 8/30/18

Fresno Jury Convicts Man of Synthetic Marijuana Conspiracy

On July 13, 2018, after a month long trial, a Fresno jury convicted a man on all counts for a conspiracy to manufacture and distribute synthetic marijuana, e.g. "spice," in United States v. Way, No. 1:14-CR-00101-DAD.

Feds Charge Modesto Doctor With Illegally Prescribing Opiods

A yearlong undercover operation by drug enforcement agents led to the arrest of a Modesto physician Thursday morning on charges he illegally prescribed opioids to patients without a legitimate medical purpose.

On April 19, a federal grand jury delivered a 22-count indictment against Sawtantra Kumar Chopra, who has an office on Spanos Court and whose business card says he practices internal medicine and treats pulmonary diseases.

Between March 2017 and March 2018, the indictment alleges, Chopra on multiple occasions sold for cash prescriptions for large quantities of highly addictive opioids, including Norco (hydrocodone) and Xanax (alprazolam). The indictment and arrest were announced at a Sacramento news conference Thursday afternoon by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.

ModBee, 4/26/18

Synthetic Drug Conspiracy Nets Man 3-Year Prison Sentence

According to a DOJ Press Release, Judge Drozd in Fresno sentenced a man on Monday to three years imprisonment after he pled guilty to conspiring to ship misbranded synthetic drugs (i.e., "spice") in interstate commerce with intent to defraud.  U.S. v. Ortiz, No. 1:14-CR-101-DAD.

Feds Charge 19 Defendants With Conspiracy to Sell Drugs on Snapchat

Federal officials announced the indictment Wednesday of 19 defendants – including suspected gang members and two current state prison inmates – on charges that they were part of a massive conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin by using social media.

As part of the bust, agents began a series of arrests early Wednesday of suspected members of Varrio Bosque Norte, a Norteno-affiliated street gang known as “VBN” that is based in Woodland.

Agents served 39 federal search warrants and conducted another 30 parole and probation searches on suspects throughout 11 Northern California counties, as well as in Oregon and Pennsylvania.

Federal grand jury indictments unsealed Wednesday morning name 19 defendants, including two incarcerated at Pelican Bay State Prison.

Sac Bee, 2/14/18