PHOENIX (LAWFUEL) – Cesar Ernesto Gonzales, 41, an illegal alien from Havana, Cuba, was sentenced here yesterday by U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell to 130 months in federal prison. Gonzales pleaded guilty on March 24, 2008 to Possession with Intent To Distribute Cocaine Base (70 months) and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense (60 months.)
Between July 26 and August 30, 2005 Gonzales and co-defendant Jason James Colburn negotiated with and sold to a confidential informant and an undercover police detective substantial quantities of methamphetamine and crack cocaine. On one occasion Gonzales also sold a hand gun to an undercover officer. During the drug sales, Gonzales was armed with a loaded and chambered handgun which he kept tucked into his waist band.
Colburn, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty on April 27, 2006 and was sentenced on June 11, 2007 to 70 months for two drug charges and one count of felon in possession of a firearm.
The investigation in this case was conducted by a joint enforcement program that included the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Phoenix Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Michael Lee and Raymond Woo, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR- 05-0921-PHX-DGC
RELEASE NUMBER: 2008-147(Gonzales)
