Man gets prison for meth-trafficking ring that shipped drugs from Modesto to Alaska

A Modesto man has been sentenced to 26 years and eight months in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking operation that moved the drugs from California’s Central Valley to Alaska.

Joseph Vasquez Jr., 32, was convicted Oct. 3 after a three-day trial. The jury in federal court found Vasquez guilty of conspiring to distribute meth and distribution of meth, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento. Vasquez was sentenced on Monday.

He was among several people arrested in connection with a federal drug trafficking investigation in April 2018, when FBI agents served a search warrant at an east Modesto neighborhood just north of Yosemite Boulevard.

The Modesto home searched was in the 2800 block of Mission Bell Lane, near Lakehead Lane. The tactical operation appeared to have begun about 6 a.m. that day.

Local police SWAT teams and agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in the FBI raid. Agents apparently served search warrants at multiple locations, including the east Modesto home.

The search warrants and the arrests were the result of a year-long investigation into the drug trafficking ring. Federal prosecutors said investigators seized 45 pounds of meth, 4 pounds of heroin and 3 pounds of cocaine.

Vasquez was part of the drug trafficking organization operating in Stanislaus County, Alaska and Tacoma, Washington from Jan. 1, 2015, through April 11, 2018, according to prosecutors. They said the meth was shipped from Modesto to Juneau, Alaska.

Five other people indicted in connection with the trafficking on April 5, 2018, have since pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and possessing drugs with the intent to distribute, including meth, cocaine and heroin.

Prosecutors said Alecia Trapps, 56, of Manteca, was scheduled to be sentenced March 30. On Oct. 28, Jimmy Brantley, 42, of Manteca was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Sheena Taylor, 41, of Modesto was sentenced to 12 years and six months in federal prison. Ernest Westley, 62, of Modesto was sentenced to two years and eight months in federal prison. Carmen Conejo, 53, of Long Beach was sentenced to five years of probation. Prosecutors said Conejo, Westley and Taylor were sentenced Oct. 21.

This story was originally published January 7, 2020 at 6:40 AM.