CA Man Gets 90 Months Conspiring to Distribute Crystal Meth, Fentanyl to NJ

A man from California will be spending the next 7-1/2 years in prison for shipping nearly 30 pounds of crystal methamphetamine to Atlantic City and conspiring to send an additional five kilograms of fentanyl into the Garden State.

Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig says 27-year-old Isabel Otanez-Sanchez of San Jacinto, CA, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and a quantity of fentanyl. The prison sentence was imposed on Friday in Camden federal court.

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According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In September 2018, law enforcement officers received information that an individual known as “Pancho,” later identified as Otanez-Sanchez, was shipping large quantities of narcotics to New Jersey from California. On Jan. 28, 2019, Otanez-Sanchez agreed to send 30 pounds of methamphetamine to a law enforcement confidential source (the “CS”) in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Otanez-Sanchez and conspirator Jesus Zavala-Torres hid 28 packages of methamphetamine inside a salvaged vehicle that was shipped to New Jersey from California. Agents recovered the 28 packages, totaling approximately 30 pounds, from the car’s gas tank.

On Feb. 12, 2019, the CS met with Otanez-Sanchez and Zavala-Torres in Riverside, California. Otanez-Sanchez and Zavala-Torres also agreed to sell an additional five kilograms of fentanyl that would be shipped to the CS in New Jersey in the same manner as the methamphetamine.

Following that meeting in February, Otanez-Sanchez and Zavala-Torres were arrested and the fentanyl they intended to ship to New Jersey was seized.

In addition to the prison term, Otanez-Sanchez was sentenced to five years of supervised release.

Zavala-Torres is scheduled to be sentenced June 2nd.