Contra Costa Resident Sentenced To 12 Years’ Imprisonment For Trafficking Methamphetamine And Illegally Possessing Firearms

Norteño gang member admitted selling drugs and firearms to undercover agents 

OAKLAND – Francisco Gonzalez was sentenced to 144 months’ imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Jill Snyder.  The sentence was handed down yesterday by the Honorable Jeffrey S. White, United States District Judge, following entry of a guilty plea on June 1, 2016.

Gonzalez, 25, of Concord, Calif., pleaded guilty to drug possession and distribution charges as well as being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.  According to records filed in connection with his plea agreement, Gonzalez is a known Norteño gang member.  As part of his plea agreement, Gonzalez acknowledged that between July 21, 2015, and August 17, 2015, he sold 973 grams of actual methamphetamine, 15 grams of cocaine, nine firearms, and 208 rounds of ammunition to an undercover agent.  Several of the firearms were stolen during a residential burglary in Antioch, Calif.  According to the plea agreement, Gonzalez made the sales over the course of eight transactions that occurred in numerous venues throughout Concord and Pittsburgh, Calif.  Gonzalez also acknowledged he told the undercover agent he could get the agent a “better price” if the agent purchased methamphetamine more frequently and/or in larger quantities.  Gonzalez was charged by Information on March 17, 2016, with one count of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1).

In addition to the prison term, Judge White sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release.  Gonzalez has been in custody since his arrest in September 2015 and will begin serving his sentence immediately. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Hopkins is prosecuting the case.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the ATF.