California Man Convicted of Methamphetamine Trafficking in Illinois
A federal jury in East St. Louis, Illinois, has convicted a California man of conspiring to possess with intent to deliver controlled substances.
Arturo Ledesma, Jr., 33, of Watsonville, California, was charged in a superseding indictment on December 10, 2019, with Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Controlled Substances between January 2017 and May 2018.
The jury heard evidence that Ledesma supplied marijuana and methamphetamine to co-conspirators in California and Pennsylvania starting in 2017. In May 2018, co-conspirators were arrested in Madison County, Illinois, while they trafficked more than 30 pounds of methamphetamine across the country.
Ledesma’s sentencing will be held on September 19, 2022, before the Honorable Chief Judge Nancy Rosenstengel.
Co-defendants Enrique Vazquez and Dastisha Velez of Reading, Pennsylvania; Mitchell Abreu of Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Jeremy Inderyas of Brooklyn, New York; and Lauren Korn of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, have all previously pled guilty to their roles in this drug conspiracy.
The investigation was a collaborative effort involving the Illinois State Police (ISP); the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and the United States Marshal Service (USMS).
This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel Kapsak, John Trippi, and Amanda Fischer prosecuted the case.
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Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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