Case: People vs. Pedro Alonso, Esteban Gaspar-Hurtado, and Gregorio
Ortega-Mendoza
Contact: Deputy District Attorney Michael Kane
Major
Narcotics Vendor Prosecution Unit
Telephone: (916) 874-7113
District Attorney Jan Scully announced today that on September 1, 2005,
Pedro Alonso, Esteban Gaspar-Hurtado, and Gregorio Ortega-Mendoza were found
guilty of transportation of methamphetamine and possession of
methamphetamine for sale following a jury trial. Jurors also found that
Alonso and Ortega-Mendoza possessed in excess of one kilogram of
methamphetamine and Gaspar-Hurtado possessed in excess of four kilograms of
methamphetamine.
On February 8, 2005, detectives with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s
Department were conducting an investigation into the trafficking of large
quantities of methamphetamine. A deal for nine pounds of methamphetamine was
negotiated and ultimately scheduled to take place on February 9, 2005. On
that date, Gaspar-Hurtado arrived at the meet location, met with undercover
officers and called in an additional vehicle. That vehicle arrived driven by
Alonso with Ortega-Mendoza in the passenger seat. In the back seat was a
large bucket containing nine pounds of methamphetamine.
Later that evening, a search warrant was executed on the maintenance shed
used by Gaspar-Hurtado in his employment as the maintenance person for the
apartment complex at which he lived. The search yielded two additional
pounds of methamphetamine and $26,900 in cash. The street value of the
methamphetamine seized in this case was estimated at approximately $500,000.
The Honorable Lloyd G. Connelly is scheduled to sentence the defendants on
October 7, 2005.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Kane stated, “due to good planning and
execution by law enforcement in this case, a large quantity of
methamphetamine was taken off the streets along with three drug dealers.”
