PORTLAND, Ore. - Today, in separate proceedings, Jose Antonio Soto-Vasquez, 29, and Jesus Manual Soto-Vasquez, 27, were each sentenced in U.S. District Court to ten years in prison. Earlier this year, both men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Both brothers were part of a drug distribution ring operating in Salem, Oregon and were arrested in 2013. After their arrest, they admitted that they had been active in a southern Oregon outdoor marijuana grow and had returned to Salem where they distributed marijuana and methamphetamine. Each defendant was found by the court to have possessed a firearm in connection with the offense. The quantity of methamphetamine they possessed for sale subjected them to a ten year mandatory minimum sentence.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
