MEDFORD, Ore. - On Monday, Oct. 29, 2018, Jonathan Alan Ochoa, 31, of Talent, Oregon, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents, between July and August 2017, Ochoa agreed and conspired with co-defendants Gonzalo Manzo, Jr. and Rodolfo Quevedo to send more than 500 grams of cocaine from California to Oregon to sell and distribute to others. During this time, Ochoa and Manzo negotiated a sale of cocaine with an undercover agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in exchange for multiple firearms.
On Aug. 17, 2017, at Manzo’s request, Quevedo transported approximately 1000 grams of cocaine from California and delivered it to Ochoa in the Medford area. The firearms and cash were intended to be transported back to California but agents arrested Ochoa and his co-conspirators and the firearms were seized by law enforcement.
Ochoa faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $5 million fine and four years of supervised release. He will be sentenced on Feb. 21, 2019 before U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken. Manzo pleaded guilty to the same charges on Aug. 27, 2018. Quevedo also faces criminal charges; his case is pending in federal court.
This case was investigated by ATF and is being prosecuted by Nathan J. Lichvarcik and Adam E. Delph, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
