Two men from California and Mexico have received long federal prison terms after pleading guilty in federal court to helping provide Alaska dealers with major quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine.
According to U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler's office, prosecutors received guilty pleas to conspiring with others to distribute methamphetamine from Geronimo Arellano Velarde of California and Mexican citizen Jorge Armando Zaragoza-Soto, who also pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine. They were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason.
"Together, the two men were personally responsible for the distribution or attempted distribution of 9 pounds of methamphetamine and 5 kilograms of cocaine to Alaska based co-conspirators," prosecutors wrote. "Zaragoza-Soto separately admitted storing an additional 10 pounds of methamphetamine on behalf of other California- and Mexico-based drug dealers."
According to Loeffler's office, Zaragoza-Soto and Velarde were involved in the conspiracy from February 2013 until October 2014, when they were both indicted.
Zaragoza-Soto's part in the delivery system involved sending drugs to Alaska, including a package mailed in October 2013 after "an Alaska-based co-conspirator" paid him in cash.
"Zaragoza-Soto mailed 5 pounds of methamphetamine and 5 kilograms of cocaine from an address in Colton, California, to an address in Anchorage," prosecutors wrote. "The drugs were later seized by law enforcement, which found Zaragoza-Soto's fingerprints on the inside of the materials used to package and ship the drugs."
Velarde's part, on the other hand, involved face-to-face deliveries.
"Later, in July 2014, Velarde personally delivered an additional 4 pounds of methamphetamine to an undercover agent posing as an Alaska drug distributor," prosecutors wrote. "In exchange for the drugs, Velarde accepted $20,000 in cash from the agent."
Velarde was charged in November 2014 as part of a federal sweep of an eight-person drug ring that also seized nearly 100 pounds of cocaine, meth and heroin. At the time, prosecutors said the ring's members -- who were based in Texas, Arizona and California as well as Alaska -- were responsible for distributing or attempting to distribute 34 pounds of meth and 11 pounds of cocaine.
The new sentences follow some of those for Velarde's co-conspirators, including five years and 10 months for Jose Ramon Canales and a nine-year term for Timothy George Alex, who was sentenced in Anchorage in October.
Loeffler's office said the cases are related to "ongoing efforts to dismantle and prosecute" drug rings with ties to Alaska, California, Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. Indictments against members date back to late 2014 and early 2015.
Both Zaragoza-Soto and Velarde will be placed on supervised release for five years after they leave prison.