Charlottesville Man Charged with Federal Methamphetamine Charge
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA - A Charlottesville man was arrested this morning and charged with federal drug trafficking charges in relation to a larger investigation into the trafficking of methamphetamine into the Charlottesville area, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced today.
Jose Alfredo Gonzalez-Martinez, 32, of Charlottesville, was arrested this morning on a federal criminal complaint and charged with distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Gonzales-Martinez is the third man charged in recent months as part of Operation Ice Storm, a federal law enforcement initiative targeting those trafficking methamphetamine into and around the greater Charlottesville area.
“Methamphetamine, especially the more potent ‘Ice’ form of the drug some of these defendants are trafficking in, is devastatingly addictive," United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “The use and addiction to this drug has a dramatic effect on our communities and our families and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to do all we can to stop the flow of this dangerous substance into our communities."
Gonzales-Martinez is the third man charged as part of Operation Ice Storm, a multi-agency operation headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and in partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The operation’s goal is to target larger distributors and traffickers of methamphetamine into Charlottesville and surrounding areas.
In addition to today’s charges against Gonzalez-Martinez, two other men, Alfonso Lopez-Rios, 33, of Charlottesville, Va. and John Mark Fisher, 54, of Roanoke, Va., have both previously pled guilty to charges brought as part of Operation Ice Storm.
Lopez-Rios pled guilty in August 2015 to possession with intent to distribute and distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Lopez-Rios has admitted to participating in a larger conspiracy in which he would travel from Charlottesville, Virginia to North Carolina to obtain large quantities of methamphetamine. In his travels, Lopez-Rios would also drive to Roanoke to sell half-pound and pound quantities of methamphetamine to Fisher, another high-level distributor in the Roanoke area. In January 2016, Fisher pled guilty to possession with the intent to distribute and distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Lopez-Rios and Fisher are scheduled to be sentenced on April 14, 2016, and April 15, 2016, respectively.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh is prosecuting the case for the United States.
A criminal complaint is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
