Omar Alberto Navarro, 40, of Arvin, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between Sept. 1, 2020, and March 26, 2021, Navarro conspired with others to acquire methamphetamine and fentanyl in Mexico, transport it to the Eastern District of California, unload the narcotics, store, sell and distribute the narcotics to others. In November 2020, Navarro, while in Mexico, coordinated the loading of a vehicle with approximately 132 pounds of pure methamphetamine that he had obtained from a Mexican-based supplier. On another occasion in December 2020, Navarro arranged for a vehicle to be loaded with 41 pounds of methamphetamine in the gas tank and then driven across the border. On both occasions law enforcement stopped the vehicles and seized the methamphetamine.
This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bakersfield Police Department, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the Shafter Police Department, the Kern County Probation Department, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Jean Berger is prosecuting the case.
Navarro is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba on Feb. 6, 2023. Navarro faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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