Mark Garcia, a 25-year-old resident of Lamont, California, has been sentenced to two years in prison for his involvement in a methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith.
Court documents reveal that in March 2021, Garcia and co-defendant Jorge Calderon-Campos, a 44-year-old Mexican national living in Bakersfield, received 26 pounds of methamphetamine from another co-defendant, Alberto Gomez-Santiago, aged 39 and also a Mexican national. Law enforcement officers seized the drugs from Garcia's vehicle during a traffic stop.
The drug transaction was part of a larger operation involving Calderon-Campos, who was under investigation through a federal wiretap. This investigation led to the seizure of over 86 pounds of methamphetamine and one kilogram of heroin. Additionally, it uncovered an illegal cockfighting enterprise linked to Calderon-Campos, resulting in charges under the Animal Welfare Act.
Garcia faced prosecution for the methamphetamine transaction in state court but initially received only four days in jail. Meanwhile, Gomez and Calderon-Campos pleaded guilty to federal drug charges and were sentenced to four years and nine months and eight years and one month in prison respectively. Calderon-Campos also received an additional five-year sentence for his involvement in animal fighting.
The case stemmed from an investigation conducted by multiple agencies including Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Other agencies involved were the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Secret Service, Bureau of Land Management, Kern County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA), California Highway Patrol, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Kern County Sheriff's Office, Kern County Probation Department, and Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar prosecuted the case.
This investigation was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) initiative which aims to identify and dismantle high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States through a collaborative approach involving multiple agencies.
For further details on OCDETF's efforts visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.