Methamphetamine Courier-Distributor Sentenced to 12 Years

Spokane – Jorge Mendoza-Sanchez of Sunnyside, Washington, was sentenced today to 12 years in federal prison for his role as a drug courier and distributor in a large-scale methamphetamine-trafficking conspiracy. Mendoza-Sanchez admitted to regularly transporting pounds of methamphetamine from California to Spokane and distributing it to other members of the conspiracy, who in turn sold it to street-level dealers. In addition to Mendoza-Sanchez, six others were charged in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and four of those conspirators were charged with the violent drug-related murder of one of the organization’s Spokane-area street-level dealers. The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case was initiated by Spokane Police Department as a murder investigation and referred to the Drug Enforcement Administration as details of the related drug-trafficking conspiracy became known. Although Mendoza-Sanchez was not implicated in the murder, Senior United States District Judge Wm. Fremming Nielsen determined that despite Mendoza-Sanchez’s minor role compared to other members of the conspiracy, the amount of methamphetamine and Mendoza-Sanchez’s possession of a firearm justified a substantial sentence.

The case was prosecuted by Stephanie Van Marter and Russ Smoot, Assistant United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington.