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Press Release

San Jose Couple Indicted In Connection With Seizure Of Over 90 Pounds Of Methamphetamine

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of California

SAN JOSE – A federal grand jury indicted Maria Anay Castaneda-Aleman, and Emmanuel Navarro Gallegos, a/k/a “Armando Roberto Espino,” on May 14, 2014, and charged both defendants with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag. Castaneda-Aleman was also charged with making available for use a house in San Jose for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, and distributing methamphetamine.

An affidavit filed by a Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in support of a criminal complaint filed in the same matter alleges that on May 3, 2014, HSI Special Agents responded to a house on Plateau Drive, San Jose, Calif., based on a report that drugs had been discovered on the premises. The agents found methamphetamine hidden beneath the stairwells. An HSI special agent weighted the bags and determined they had a total gross weight of 42.2 Kilograms (over 90 pounds).

According to the affidavit, the house was rented by Castaneda-Aleman who lived there with her boyfriend Emmanuel Navarro Gallegos. Castaneda-Aleman was arrested on May 3, 2014. According to the affidavit, the agents attempted to detain Emmanuel Navarro Gallegos on May 4, 2014, but he remains at large.

Castaneda-Aleman had her initial appearance before the Honorable Paul S. Grewal, United States Magistrate Court Judge, in San Jose, on May 5, 2014. She then had a detention hearing on May 9, 2014, and was ordered detained pending trial.

The following are the maximum statutory penalties for each charge in the indictment:

Counts 1 and 2 (against both defendants): Conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute (21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1) and 846):

  1. Maximum prison sentence life
  2. Mandatory minimum prison sentence 10 years
  3. Maximum fine $10,000,000
  4. Minimum supervised release term 5 years
  5. Mandatory special assessment $100

Count 3 (against Castaneda-Aleman only): Maintaining Drug-involved Premises (21 U.S.C. § 856):

  1. Maximum prison sentence 20 years
  2. Maximum fine $500,000
  3. Maximum supervised release term 3 years
  4. Mandatory special assessment $100

However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

This case is in part the product of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

Please note, an indictment contains only allegations against a person and, as with all defendants, Maria Anay Castaneda-Aleman and Emmanuel Navarro Gallegos, must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.


(Castaneda-Aleman and Navarro Gallegos complaint )

(Castaneda-Aleman and Navarro Gallegos indictment )

 

 

Updated November 18, 2014