Michele Beckwith Acting U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California
Raul Zamudio Hurtado, a 42-year-old resident of Oakdale, has been sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. The decision was handed down on Monday by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston. Hurtado was charged with two counts of conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine, stemming from two separate cases, as announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith.
According to the court documents, several law enforcement agencies investigated a group of Sureño gang members in Merced in 2017. This led to the arrest of over 50 individuals, with 14 defendants being charged federally. Hurtado was identified as the methamphetamine supplier to the gang members and was subsequently indicted. On July 24, 2019, he pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the first case. He was released with conditions in April 2020.
Between December 2021 and November 2022, Hurtado was involved in obtaining and distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, accruing substantial financial gains from drug proceeds. A search warrant executed on November 16, 2022, resulted in the seizure of over 73 pounds of methamphetamine and a new charge against Hurtado. He pled guilty to conspiracy again on June 3, 2024.
The investigations were conducted by multiple agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Homeland Security Investigations, among others. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ross Pearson and Kimberly Sanchez.
These efforts are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which aim to dismantle high-level criminal organizations in the U.S. The cases also fall under Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that seeks to reduce violent crime through community and law enforcement collaboration. The program emphasizes building community trust, supporting preventative community organizations, and strategic law enforcement priorities.
