OAKLAND — Six people have been sentenced in a 2020 federal and state operation that targeted the Sureño gang, including one Concord man who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and another who was given no additional jail time, court records show.
The sentences, handed down over the past six weeks, include Luis Ramirez-Carranza, 32, and Christian Cervantes, 24, who last week were given prison terms of five years and 115 month, respectively, for convictions related to drug trafficking in the Bay Area. The two were part of a group that turned the outdoor area of a Concord shopping center on Monument Boulevard into what prosecutors called a “one stop shop” for drugs and guns.
Cervantes, who went by “Bam Bam,” was observed conducting numerous drug sales on the 1500 block of Monument Boulevard during the investigation by Concord police and the FBI, dubbed “Boulevard Blues,” according to federal prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to selling cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine earlier this year. Ramirez-Carranza sold seven guns during the investigation, including a firearm resembling an AK-47, prosecutors wrote in court records.
“(Cervantes) both coordinated the sale of methamphetamine and heroin, and personally exchanged the drugs for cash from buyers. He supplied the drugs in at least one transaction negotiated by a codefendant, and generally attended transactions in the company of, or with the assistance of, his codefendants,” two assistant U.S. Attorneys wrote in a sentencing memo. “The defendant sold both small and large quantities of methamphetamine, easily accessing a pound of methamphetamine with a few hours’ notice, and participated in the sale of just under an ounce of heroin as well.”
Cervantes’ attorney brought up his difficult upbringing, including having loved ones suffer from serious medical maladies, and becoming addicted to drugs at a young age. Included in the sentencing brief were letters of support from a local religious leader, as well as Christian Cervantes’ sister, Kimberly Cervantes.
“Christian has expressed a strong desire to address and take responsibility for his actions and move past his mistakes in a constructive and successful manner,” she wrote.
Christian Cervantes is not the only defendant to receive such a high term; his co-defendant, Francisco Cano, 35, received almost nine years after pleading guilty to heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine sales. Prosecutors said he aided the gang’s drug dealing by “either supplying the drugs, or acting as a look-out.” His attorney said Cano became addicted to methamphetamine in the last five years, and worked as a maintenance supervisor before becoming prey to the same drug he was convicted of selling, methamphetamine.
Another defendant, Angel Magaña, 27, was sentenced to five years after prosecutors linked him to the sale of 49 grams of methamphetamine and an illegal firearm transaction.
On the other side, two defendants, Kevin Vidal and Alexis Perez, both 24, avoided jail time altogether. Vidal, linked to the same gun sale as Magaña, avoided a 366-day sentence after his attorney argued he deserved a second chance in light of s “stable employment, compliance with pretrial release conditions since September 2020, extraordinary post-arrest rehabilitation, supportive relationships, and parental obligations.”
Perez, who was only charged with selling four-tenths of a gram of meth for $20, received a three-year probation term, court records show.
Source: www.mercurynews.com