Two Defendants Arrested During Operation Garlic Press Plead Guilty

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 21 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California issued the following news release:

Two individuals today pleaded guilty in federal court in San Jose to charges stemming from a multi-agency, law enforcement initiative that was conducted in Gilroy, Calif., United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.

Miguel Gonzalez, 37, of Salinas, Calif., pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S. 846; two counts of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B)(viii); and one count of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. S. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii).

Adrian Gamino, 31, of Morgan Hill, Calif., pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii); one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S. 846; and one count of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. S. 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B)(viii) and agreed to forfeit his 2006 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck and $4,862.00 to the Government.

Both defendants face mandatory minimum prison sentences of 20 years, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release.

In March, 2010, ATF began the undercover operation with the Gilroy Police Department and the California Highway Patrol, targeting individuals who commit violent criminal acts, including gang members. The investigation focused on individuals operating in the California counties of Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito. Prosecutors from the United States Attorney's Office and the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office, working together, charged a total of 118 defendants. Among the contraband seized were 86 vehicles; 52 firearms (including several sawed off shotguns, stolen firearms, and firearms with obliterated serial numbers) and methamphetamine with a street value of more than $100,000. To date, 46 defendants have been charged federally. Gonzalez and Gamino are the first two to plead guilty.

Gonzalez and Gamino remain in federal custody. They are next scheduled to appear before United States District Court Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose on March 7, 2012 for sentencing. Any sentence following conviction will be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. S. 3553.

Thomas O'Connell and Daniel Kaleba are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the cases with the assistance of Tracey Andersen and Nina Williams. The prosecution is the result of a one and a-half year investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Gilroy Police Department.

In addition to the ATF and the Gilroy Police Department, the following agencies provided support to this investigation: the California Highway Patrol; Salinas Police Department; Morgan Hill Police Department; Monterey County Sheriff's Office; auto theft task forces from Monterey County, Santa Cruz County and Santa Clara County; the National Insurance Crime Bureau; the Western States Information Network; the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force; the United States Marshal's Service; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations.

Further Information:

Case #s Gamino - CR 11-00595 EJD and CR 11-00596 EJD

Gonzalez - CR 11-00706 LHK

A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.

Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.

Judges' calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.

All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by email at [email protected].

This site does not contain all press releases or court filings and is not an official record of proceedings. Please contact the Clerk of Courts for the United States District Court for official copies of documents and public information.

TNS C-BhaS 111224-mv45-3728604