FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
February 9, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-CR-112

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that two Bakersfield residents pleaded guilty today to methamphetamine-related charges a day after a jury was chosen for their trial. Gerardo Rosa-Gomez (also known as Gerardo Ramos-Zacharias), 31, pleaded guilty to four counts involving conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Vincent Andrade, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and one count of possession with intent to distribute.
           
According to facts presented in court to support the guilty pleas, the defendants engaged in an agreement to produce crystal methamphetamine and were responsible for approximately 4.8 kilograms of blue and white crystal methamphetamine seized on March 3, 2011 in Kern County.

This case is the product of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bakersfield Resident Office, the Bakersfield Police Department, and the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Kathleen A. Servatius and Heather M. Jones are prosecuting the case.

Ramos-Zacharias and Andrade are scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill on April 30, 2012.

Also charged in this case are Michael Ross Thomas, Oscar Ramirez-Soria, and Juan Francisco Hidalgo. They pleaded guilty previously and are scheduled to be sentenced in April 2, February 27, and April 30, 2012 respectively.

The maximum statutory penalty for conspiring and possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute is life in prison, a $10 million fine, and a five-year term of supervision after prison. 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.

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