Gang Member Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison and Ordered to Pay $14,000 in Restitution

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Jose Espinoza, 33, of Omaha and Grand Island, Nebraska, was sentenced on January 19, 2012, to 27 years in prison by the Honorable United States District Judge Richard G. Kopf, for distributing more than 50 grams of actual methamphetamine and transferring a firearm to a felon. In addition to his prison term, Espinoza will serve five years of supervised release following his release from prison, and he was ordered to pay $14,000 in restitution to the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force.

Espinoza was one of the 14 people arrested in the Grand Island area on November 18, 2010, in a multi-agency gang related investigation. On a few occasions between February and September of 2010, Espinoza sold methamphetamine and a firearm to a government informant. Espinoza entered a guilty plea on July 25, 2011.

While numerous agencies assisted with the arrests of the 14 defendants and executing various search warrants on November 18, 2010, the principal agencies involved in the investigation were the Central Nebraska Drug and Safe Streets Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.