SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Robert Elias Padilla, 41, of Vacaville, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley to 14 years in prison for possessing methamphetamine for distribution, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
Padilla pleaded guilty on January 31. According to court documents, on June 6, 2018, law enforcement agents had a warrant to search Padilla and his car for evidence of drug-trafficking and firearms. They located Padilla in his car and followed him to a parking lot in Vacaville. When the officers tried to stop Padilla’s car, Padilla tried to flee, hitting a parked car in the process. At the same time, Padilla threw a backpack from the driver’s-side window, and officers later found over 5.5 pounds of methamphetamine in the backpack. Padilla was carrying over $2,300 in cash when he was arrested.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Vacaville Police Department, with special assistance from the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
