CASE OF INTEREST

May 2, 2003

People vs. Angela Alvarado, Francisco Hernandez, Ulises Hernandez & Miguel Martinez

Contact:
Joseph Chavez, Major Narcotics Vendor Prosecution Unit
(916) 874-7113

District Attorney Jan Scully announced today that Angela Alvarado, Francisco Hernandez, Ulises Hernandez and Miguel Martinez were found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of chemicals with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with the intent to sell, following a two-month jury trial. Additionally, the jurors found that all defendants possessed in excess of 25 gallons of methamphetamine. They now face a sentence of 17 years in state prison.

On May 15, 2001, Fullerton Police Department narcotics detectives surveilled a U-Haul truck which was being loaded with several boxes of denatured alcohol at a hardware store in the city of El Monte, California. They followed the U-Haul truck to a residence in the Meadowview area of Sacramento. The investigation was then turned over to the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Major Narcotic Unit. These detectives continuously watched the residence for three days. During this period, they saw all four defendants bring methamphetamine manufacturing items into the residence while using two separate U-haul trucks.

During the evening of May 17, 2001, detectives served a search warrant at the residence. In the garage they found a "super lab" containing 32 gallons of methamphetamine and all the apparatus required to manufacture methamphetamine. This amount of liquid methamphetamine is capable of producing approximately 96 pounds of finished product. If the methamphetamine had been sold at the going retail rate of $50 per gram, it could have fetched over $ 2 million.

Deputy District Attorney Joseph Chavez stated, "Large scale drug cases such as this cannot
be successfully prosecuted without excellent inter-agency cooperation. That is exactly what occurred between the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the Fullerton Police Department in this case."

The Honorable Jack Sapunor will sentence the Defendants on June 6, 2003.

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