Tucson Business Owner Sentenced to Prison for Drug Trafficking and Illegal Firearms Possession

TUCSON, Ariz. – Jason Felipe Gutierrez-Sandoval, 29, of Tucson, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Scott H. Rash to 46 months prison to be followed by 36 months of supervised release. Gutierrez-Sandoval pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin, and possession of firearms by a prohibited person.  

In 2023, Gutierrez-Sandoval, the owner and operator of a local Tucson restaurant, delivered over 4,600 fentanyl pills, weighing approximately 454.4 grams, to another person on behalf of a drug trafficking organization based in Mexico. Investigators later arrested Gutierrez-Sandoval and searched his home with a warrant. He had in his possession twelve small baggies containing a pinkish-colored form of cocaine known as Lavada (weighing approximately 10.35 grams) and over $660 in cash. In a safe in Gutierrez-Sandoval’s residence, agents found a collection of firearms, ammunition, and magazines, along with a half kilogram of heroin. Some of the firearms were loaded, and one of the magazines was a circular .22 caliber drum magazine with a 70-round capacity, also fully loaded. Gutierrez-Sandoval is prohibited by law from possessing firearms.  

As part of his sentence, Gutierrez-Sandoval was ordered to pay a money judgment in the amount of $2,500, equivalent to the sum of money that he obtained during the fentanyl transaction in 2023.  The firearms, ammunition, and magazines also were seized and forfeited.

Homeland Security Investigations, the Tucson Police Department, and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, as members of the Counter Narcotics Alliance, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, in Tucson, Arizona, conducted the investigation in this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael R. Lizano, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:    25-CR-01807-SHR-MAA
RELEASE NUMBER:    2025-161_Gutierrez-Sandoval

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