He was arrested with 118 pounds of meth in his car. Now, he’s headed to prison.
A Mexico citizen who was living in Denair was sentenced to 26 years in prison for drug trafficking conspiracy and gun possession on Thursday, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
Francisco Ochoa, 49, received approximately 118 pounds of methamphetamine on Sept. 3, 2019, and had co-defendant Victoria Rodriguez assist him with weighing and packaging the drug, according to a press release.
On Sept. 5, federal agents obtained the meth during a search of Ochoa’s vehicle and found a cooler stored with the meth that contained one kilogram of cocaine, five loaded firearms, a bulletproof vest, several high-capacity magazines, a substance used to dilute the drugs, and a digital scale.
“Methamphetamine continues to be a scourge in California with devastating consequences to drug users and our communities,” Scott said in a statement. “Today’s sentence marks an end to this defendant’s long criminal history in the United States and Mexico.”
This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Sheriff’s Special Investigations Unit, composed of agents from the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, the California Highway Patrol, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, Stanislaus County Probation, and the Ceres Police Department.
Rodriguez is currently serving a 30-month sentence.
