Source: United States Department of Justice News
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Julio Alvarez Sanchez, 39, Mexico, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 5 years in federal prison for distributing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. The prison term will be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Alvarez Sanchez pleaded guilty to this charge on December 19, 2022.
Alvarez Sanchez brought methamphetamine from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Madison and provided it to Juana Armenta Mora. On April 4, 2022, Armenta Mora sold 973 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in Madison.
On April 14, 2022, Alvarez Sanchez met with the confidential informant in a parking lot in Madison for an additional methamphetamine deal. The defendant provided the confidential informant with a toolbox containing 6.77 kilograms of methamphetamine. Alvarez Sanchez was arrested following the drug deal.
Alvarez Sanchez subsequently was interviewed by law enforcement and admitted to participating in the April 2022 deliveries, as well as additional deliveries of methamphetamine.
At sentencing, Judge Peterson noted that this was a serious crime because of the very large quantity of methamphetamine involved and because Alvarez Sanchez admitted to dealing methamphetamine on additional occasions. In arriving at the five-year sentence, Judge Peterson weighed these aggravating factors against Alvarez Sanchez’s limited prior criminal record.
Juana Armenta Mora pleaded guilty on September 8, 2022 to distributing methamphetamine. She was sentenced on December 22, 2022 to 15 months in federal prison.
The charge against Alvarez Sanchez was the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Jefferson County Drug Task Force, and Madison Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven P. Anderson and Kathryn E. Ginsberg prosecuted this case.