NEWARK, N.J. - Two California men were charged today with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Rigoberto Sandoval-Varela, 30, of Stockton, California, and Mario I. Zavala-Rodriguez, 34, of Palo Alto, California, were charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Sandoval-Varela and Zavala-Rodriguez were arrested in Ontario, California, on Oct. 22, 2015, following an undercover law enforcement investigation. They are scheduled to make their initial court appearances later today in Los Angeles federal court.
According to the complaint:
Earlier this month, an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent in New Jersey negotiated with Sandoval-Varela via text message and telephone the purchase of a large quantity of narcotics to be brought from California to New Jersey. Another undercover law enforcement agent later met with Sandoval-Varela and Zavala-Rodriguez on Oct. 21, 2015, in California to conclude the deal. The defendants agreed to provide the undercover agent with large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine in exchange for approximately $765,000. The defendants met with the undercover agent the next day and displayed approximately five pounds of methamphetamine. The defendants fled the scene on foot as other agents approached and were quickly apprehended.
The conspiracy with which both defendants are charged is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of life in prison.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the DEA, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Carl J. Kotowski in Newark, the DEA’s Los Angeles Field Office and the State of California Department of Justice, with the investigation leading to today’s charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bernard J. Cooney of the U.S. Attorney’s Criminal Division in Newark.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
