Antonio Sorondo Jr., a 52-year-old resident of Fresno, has been sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession. U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston handed down the sentence, as announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith.
Court documents reveal that Sorondo was part of a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine during January and February 2022. On February 1, 2022, law enforcement officers attempted to contact Sorondo, leading him to flee and discard a firearm over a fence. He was subsequently apprehended, and the loaded firearm was recovered. Two weeks later, Sorondo was arrested again with two more firearms and approximately 100 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, along with methamphetamine and cocaine. Due to previous felony convictions, Sorondo is prohibited from possessing firearms.
The case resulted from an investigation by FORT—a multi-agency team involving Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Fresno Police Department—and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio.
This prosecution is part of Operation Synthetic Opioid Surge (S.O.S.), aimed at reducing synthetic opioid supply in high-impact areas while identifying distribution networks both domestically and internationally. Launched in July 2018 by the Justice Department, S.O.S. operates in the Eastern District of California among other districts.
Additionally, this effort falls under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation which targets top criminal organizations threatening the United States through a coordinated approach involving multiple agencies.
The case also aligns with Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a joint federal-state-local initiative focused on reducing violent crime through comprehensive strategies that target violent offenders while supporting prevention and reentry programs for sustainable crime reduction.