Mexican National Sentenced for Transporting and Storing 60 Pounds of Methamphetamine

FRESNO, Calif. — Francisco Javier Torres Mora, aka Johnathan Benjamin Torres, 30, a Mexican national residing in McFarland, was sentenced today to four years and nine months in prison for possessing with intent to distribute 60 pounds of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in April 2021, Torres possessed 60 pounds of methamphetamine at a commercial property that he intended to distribute. Law enforcement officers seized the methamphetamine after wire intercepts indicated that Torres was holding the methamphetamine for Jorge Calderon-Campos, 42, also a Mexican national, who was the target of a wiretap investigation that resulted in the seizure of an additional 26 pounds of methamphetamine and 1 kilogram of heroin. The wiretap investigation also uncovered an illegal cockfighting enterprise involving Calderon-Campos, who is charged in a second indictment with violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

Co-defendant Alberto Gomez-Santiago, 28, a Mexican national also residing in McFarland, was involved in the 26-pound methamphetamine transaction, and was sentenced earlier this month to 57 months in prison. An associate of Calderon-Campos, Horacio Ortega-Martinez, 36, a Mexican national residing in Bakersfield, previously entered a guilty plea to the unlawful possession of gamecocks for an animal fighting venture and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Charges are pending against Calderon-Campos and four other co-defendants The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was the product of an investigation led by Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General (USDA-OIG), the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Kern County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Kern County Sheriff's Office, the Kern County Probation Department, and the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.