Five Defendants Sentenced for Drug Trafficking and Firearm Offenses

Five individuals were sentenced today for drug trafficking and firearm offenses, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Two fentanyl dealers sentenced for interstate drug trafficking

Juan Alejandro Comparan-Guzman, 28, of Kerman, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and Rita Ann-Marie Louis, 32, of Carnation, Washington, was sentenced to four years in prison for trafficking fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin.

According to court documents, a nine-month investigation into a drug-trafficking organization operating in California and trafficking drugs to Colorado, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington revealed that the two sentenced today, along with 11 others, were involved in trafficking methamphetamine, fentanyl-laced counterfeit OxyContin pills, and heroin. Approximately 7 pounds of cocaine, 2 pounds of heroin, 137 pounds of methamphetamine, and over 34,000 pills containing fentanyl were seized, as well as $142,000 in cash.

This case was the product of an investigation by the High Impact Investigation Team (HIIT), a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Initiative (HIDTA), composed of personnel from the FBI, the California DOJ, Homeland Security Investigations, the Fresno Police Department, the Sheriff’s Offices of Fresno, Tulare, and Kings Counties, Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, and the CHP.

Fresno man sentenced for illegally possessing a firearm in connection with selling fentanyl

Armando Chavez Jr., 22, of Fresno, was sentenced to five years in prison for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. According to court documents, Chavez sold counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl on Snapchat, a social media platform. After a nonfatal overdose was reported, federal law enforcement agents working in an undercover capacity contacted Chavez and ordered oxycodone pills from him. Chavez agreed to sell the pills and drove to a predetermined meeting location. Once he arrived, Chavez and his car were searched, and law enforcement found approximately 100 fentanyl pills. Agents then executed a federal search warrant at Chavez’s residence. Inside his bedroom, law enforcement found over 1,300 fentanyl pills packaged for distribution and a loaded handgun.

This case was the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the DEA, and the Fentanyl Overdose Response Team. The case was part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.) a program designed to reduce the supply of deadly synthetic opioids in high impact areas as well as identifying wholesale distribution networks and international and domestic suppliers. In July 2018, the Justice Department announced the creation of S.O.S., which is being implemented in the Eastern District of California and nine other federal districts.

Two sentenced for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine in EDCA and Oregon

Adrian Arredondo Alvarado, 34, of Orosi, was sentenced today to eight years and seven months in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana. Ivan Vasquez, 35, of Oregon, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, Alvarado was the main target of a lengthy federal investigation into a drug trafficking ring. During the investigation, Alvarado was identified as a large-scale methamphetamine and marijuana distributor as well as a marijuana cultivator. Alvarado negotiated and then supplied over 5 kilograms of methamphetamine to Vasquez, who traveled from Oregon into the Eastern District of California to obtain that methamphetamine, which he intended to distribute to others in Oregon. Alvarado directed other co-defendants to go to Southern California to obtain the drugs and another to collect Vasquez’s drug payment. Alvarado was growing a substantial amount of marijuana. During a search of Alvarado’s residence, officers seized a stolen handgun, ammunition, and a half kilogram of marijuana. On the other properties that Alvarado used for marijuana cultivation, officers found over 400 marijuana plants, nine firearms, and several hundred kilograms of processed marijuana.

Co-defendant Alexis Melchor-Guzman, 30, of Orosi, was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and co-defendant Adrian Lopez, 39, of Orange Cove, was sentenced to one year in prison for maintaining a drug-involved premises.

This case was the product of an investigation by the DEA with assistance from the Visalia Police Department and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio prosecuted these cases.