Regional: Stockton Man, 2 Others Plead Guilty To Drug Trafficking Crimes

Bay City News

A Stockton man and two of his co-defendants from Sacramento pleaded guilty last week to several drug trafficking and weapons charges as part of an investigation into organized crime in the area, U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert announced.

Martin Cervantes Vasquez, 49, pleaded guilty Thursday to a fentanyl pill trafficking conspiracy along with Sacramento man Alberto Gonzalez Salgado, 45. Vasquez also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to sell methamphetamine. Alberto Salgado pleaded guilty to two counts of heroin distribution, cultivating more than 100 cannabis plants, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime.

A third Sacramento man, Isaiah Alberto Salgado, pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered short-barrel rifle.

According to court documents, Alberto Salgado sold heroin and fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills to a confidential source on multiple occasions in 2019 and 2020. Cervantes supplied fentanyl-laced counterfeit oxycodone pills to Alberto Salgado and also possessed more than a kilogram of heroin and 500 grams of methamphetamine on the day of his arrest on Oct. 8, 2020.

Alberto and Isaiah Salgado sold an illegal short-barreled rifle to the same confidential source in August 2020. Alberto Salgado also maintained a stash house in Sacramento where he grew more than 100 marijuana plants and also kept a firearm to protect his drug trafficking operation.

Cervantes is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2025, Alberto Salgado on Feb. 13, 2025, and Isaiah Salgado on Jan. 9, 2025.

Cervantes and Alberto Salgado face a maximum statutory penalty of life in federal prison. Isaiah Salgado faces a maximum statutory penalty of ten years in federal prison, prosecutors said.

Copyright © 2024 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.