CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA – A federal law enforcement initiative targeting those trafficking methamphetamine into the greater Charlottesville area has led to a third federal conviction after a local man pled guilty today in United States District Court in Charlottesville, United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. announced.
Jose Alfredo Gonzalez-Martinez, 32, of Charlottesville, was arrested on a federal criminal complaint in late March and pled guilty today in District Court to distribution of methamphetamine. Two other men, Alfonso Lopez-Rios and John Mark Fisher were previously convicted and sentenced to federal prison time as part of the Operation Ice Storm initiative. Lopez-Rios was sentenced to 58 months in federal prison and Fisher was sentenced 132 months.
“Methamphetamine is often a drug that leads to other criminal behavior, acts such a domestic abuse, property crime, violence, things that destroy families and communities,” United States Attorney John P. Fishwick Jr. said today. “It is paramount that we continue to work with our partners in law enforcement in manners such as this to slow the spread of this deadly and addictive substance.”
According to evidence presented at previous hearings by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh, Gonzalez-Martinez sold distribution-sized quantities in the Charlottesville area.
Gonzalez-Martinez, Lopez-Rios and Fisher were prosecuted as part of Operation Ice Storm, a multi-agency operation headed by the Drug Enforcement Administration and in partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The operations’ goal is to target larger distributors and traffickers of methamphetamine into Charlottesville and surrounding areas.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Kavanaugh prosecuted the case for the United States.