FRESNO, Calif. - Jose Manuel Sotelo-Mendoza (Sotelo), 27, of Ceres, was sentenced today to eight years and four months in prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 15 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
Sotelo’s sentence follows his guilty plea earlier this year. According to court documents, Sotelo and his co-defendant Oscar Ivan Salazar-Avalos (Salazar), 29, of Mexico, delivered 15 pounds of crystal methamphetamine to an undercover officer in Delano after Salazar negotiated with the officer for the delivery of the drug for $3,400 per pound for a total of $51,000. Salazar and Sotelo met the source of supply in Castaic in the northern part of Los Angeles County to obtain the methamphetamine. Salazar was recently sentenced to 6 years and 9 months in prison for the drug conspiracy.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, consisting of law enforcement officers of Homeland Security Investigations, the California Highway Patrol, the Bureau of Investigation of the California Department of Justice, the Fresno Police Department, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
