FRESNO, Calif. – In a shocking turn of events, Modesto residents Genaro Serrato Calles, 49, and Antonio Valencia Hernandez, 65, have pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and heroin in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties.
According to court documents, Serrato and Valencia, along with Antonio Castellanos, 38, of Whittier, and Jose Reyes Pineda, 48, of Anaheim, were charged with conspiring over a two-year period to distribute methamphetamine and heroin in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties.
In pleading guilty, Serrato acknowledged that he supplied heroin to Valencia for distribution and also had Valencia pick up about 11 pounds of methamphetamine from Reyes in Anaheim for distribution in Modesto. Serrato also made arrangements with Castellanos to store and repackage for distribution about 20 pounds of methamphetamine at a stash house in Modesto.
The case is the result of a joint investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force; the San Joaquin County Metropolitan Narcotics Task Force; the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency; and the Orange County Sheriff’s Special Investigations Bureau.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Escobar and Melanie Alsworth are prosecuting the case.
Serrato and Valencia are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on November 8, 2021. Castellanos previously entered a guilty plea to the drug conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on October 18, 2021. Serrato and Valencia face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison, a statutory mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years, and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
This effort is 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.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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