Mexican Citizen Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison for Drug Conspiracy and Money Laundering

Anchorage, Alaska — United States Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced that on July 16, 2010, Gilberto Gonzalez, a.k.a. “Toro,” a.k.a. Victor Manuel Reyes, a citizen of Mexico who illegally returned to the United States after a prior conviction for drug trafficking, was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage to 20 years of imprisonment for his conviction of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine, and money laundering.

United States District Court Judge John W. Sedwick imposed the sentence on Gonzalez, 35.

According to information presented to the court by Lead Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force AUSA Stephan A. Collins, Gonzalez was a manager of a conspiracy that trafficked in cocaine and methamphetamine between Nevada, California, Alaska, and Hawaii. During a four-month period, the conspiracy distributed multiple kilograms of cocaine and methamphetamine in Alaska and transfered drug proceeds through fictitious bank accounts from Alaska to Nevada. Other members of the conspiracy were previously convicted and sentenced included Alfonso Acosta Ruiz, 32, Mirina Millan Guitierrez, 47, Martin Ochoa Valara, 36, Jose Mata-Linares, 24, and Jose Inoa-Ramos, 34. With the exception of Inoa-Ramos, who is a citizen of the Dominican Republic, all of the conspirators are citizens of Mexico. The Court ordered that all fo the defendants were to be deported from the United States after they complete their respective sentences.

Ms. Loeffler commended the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the United States Department of Homeland Security Investigations for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Gonzalez and his co-conspirators.