| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 24, 2009 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO – United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Cornelio MATA ESPINOZA, Anthony JOHNSTON, and Josefina RODRIGUEZ pleaded guilty in federal court in San Francisco yesterday to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and heroin. In addition, JOHNSTON pleaded guilty to possession of firearm by a convicted felon.
Each defendant was originally charged along with 7 other individuals as part of a coordinated set of arrests, indictments and search warrants executed across Northern California on February 4, 2009, that was known as Operation Smack Down. Thus far, the operation has resulted in the seizure of the 6 kilograms of methamphetamine, as well as over 1 kilogram of heroin, over $350,000 in cash drug proceeds, and multiple firearms.
In pleading guilty, MATA ESPINOZA admitted that between November of 2006 and January of 2009, he sold heroin and methamphetamine to various individuals at multiple locations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. During this time, MATA ESPINOZA admitted that he was responsible for the sale of over 2000 grams of heroin and nearly 500 grams of methamphetamine.
MATA ESPINOZA was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals after the plea hearing. His sentencing is scheduled for January 13, 2010, before Judge Charles R. Breyer in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty MATA ESPINOZA faces is life in prison, with a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, and a fine of $4,000,000. In pleading guilty, MATA ESPINOZA agreed to serve a sentence of at least 192 months, or 16 years, in prison. Under the agreement, the government is allowed to ask for a sentence of up to 324 months. However, any sentence following the 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.
During his guilty plea before Judge Breyer, JOHNSTON admitted to selling over 2000 grams of heroin and 40 grams of methamphetamine between November of 2006 and January of 2009. JOHNSTON also admitted that he sold a .357-revolver to an undercover ATF agent on August 7, 2007. At the time that JOHNSTON sold the gun, he had previously been convicted of a felony narcotics offense.
JOHNSTON was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals after the plea hearing. His sentencing is scheduled for January 20, 2010, before Judge Breyer in San Francisco. The maximum statutory penalty JOHNSTON faces is life imprisonment, with a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years, and a fine of $4,000,000. In pleading guilty, JOHNSTON agreed to serve a sentence of at least 168 months, or 14 years, in prison. Under the agreement, the government may seek a sentence of up to 262 months.
JOSEFINA RODRIGUEZ also admitted that she was involved in the narcotics conspiracy between February 2008 and January 2009. As set forth in her plea agreement, on April 6, 2008, RODRIGUEZ was stopped by California Highway Patrol officers while driving near Los Banos, California. Officers subsequently discovered $353,877 packed into multiple duffle bags in the trunk of RODRIGUEZ’s car. During her guilty plea before Judge Breyer, RODRIGUEZ admitted that the $353,877 seized from her car were drug profits, and agreed to forfeit the funds to the United States. In addition, RODRIGUEZ admitted that she bought and sold 492 grams of heroin and 225 grams of methamphetamine while she was involved in the conspiracy.
RODRIGUEZ was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals after the plea hearing. Her sentencing is scheduled for December 9, 2010, before Judge Breyer. The maximum statutory penalty RODRIGUEZ faces is 40 years in prison, with a minimum mandatory sentence of 5 years, and a fine of $2,000,000. In pleading guilty, RODRIGUEZ agreed to serve a sentence of at least 87 months, or just over 7 years, in prison. Under the agreement, the government may seek a sentence of up to 108 months in prison.
Aaron Wegner and Waqar Hasib are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys prosecuting the case, with the assistance of Hui Chen and Jacquelyn Lovrin. The prosecution is the result of a two-year investigation led by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”), together with agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.
Further Information:
Case #:09-0103-CRB
A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by email at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov.
This site does not contain all press releases or court filings and is not an official record of proceedings. Please contact the Clerk of Courts for the United States District Court for official copies of documents and public information.