Jose Manuel Ontiveros Verdugo, Methamphetamine Distribution, California 2023

A 16-year prison sentence has been handed down to Jose Manuel Ontiveros Verdugo, 40, of Stockton, for his role in a large-scale methamphetamine distribution conspiracy.

Verdugo was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on December 2023 for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, along with Jorge Omar Arredondo-Garcia, 47, of Lodi, who pleaded guilty to the same offense.

According to court documents, between July 2019 and December 2019, Verdugo and Arredondo-Garcia conspired with their co-defendants and others to distribute methamphetamine both in Stockton and throughout the country.

Law enforcement interdicted the group's shipments of 50 pounds of methamphetamine destined for Nebraska, as well as a 21-pound shipment destined for Pennsylvania. An undercover source bought a total of 11 pounds of methamphetamine and a half pound of heroin from this drug trafficking organization during the investigation.

Charges are pending against co-defendants Gregorio Ontiveros Verdugo, 42, of Morada; Alberto Navarro Zapata, 39, of Stockton; and Wilfredo Reyes, 50, of Manteca. The charges against them are only allegations; they are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Arredondo-Garcia is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on November 24, 2025 and faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison 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.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, San Joaquin County Probation, the Stockton Police Department, and the Tracy Police Department.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/stockton-man-sentenced-16-years-prison-and-lodi-man-pleads-guilty-their-roles-large