A routine traffic stop in Oklahoma City spiraled into a full-blown federal case that will cost one local man nearly a decade of his life and then his place in the country.
Ramon Zuniga-Magdelano, 48, has been sentenced to 108 months in federal prison, followed by supervised release, after admitting he possessed cocaine with intent to distribute and unlawfully had a firearm. The punishment stems from a Dec. 19, 2024 traffic stop and a later search of his Oklahoma City home, where investigators say they found more than 1,100 grams of cocaine and a handgun. After he serves his federal time, immigration authorities plan to deport him.
According to KOKH, Oklahoma City police pulled Zuniga-Magdelano over on Dec. 19, 2024, arrested him on an outstanding warrant and found cocaine on him during the stop. Officers later executed a search warrant at his residence, where they seized more than 1,100 grams of cocaine and a firearm, public records show. The station reports that a superseding information filed July 30, 2025, charged him with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, and that he pleaded guilty on Sept. 4, 2025.
How the charges add up
Federal law treats possession with intent to distribute as a serious offense. 21 U.S.C. § 841 lays out tiered penalties that increase with the amount of drugs involved, with kilogram-level quantities drawing especially stiff time. The firearm count falls under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), which bars unlawful aliens from possessing firearms and is frequently paired with drug charges when guns and narcotics turn up together.
On the immigration side, federal law also allows removal of noncitizens convicted of significant controlled-substance offenses. That authority is spelled out in 8 U.S.C. § 1227, which lists deportable offenses, including serious drug crimes that follow someone even after they finish a prison term.
Sentence, supervision and deportation
At sentencing, a federal judge ordered 108 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release. Public filings indicate immigration officials plan to remove Zuniga-Magdelano after he finishes his federal sentence, according to KOKH. He admitted he was unlawfully present in the United States when he possessed more than 500 grams of cocaine intended for distribution and a firearm. The guilty plea and sentencing close out a case that began with the December 2024 stop and the subsequent search of his home.
Federal enforcement context
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma has repeatedly spotlighted cases that mix drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession, often resulting in multi-year sentences for metro Oklahoma City defendants. In one example highlighted in an April 2026 announcement, a Midwest City man received roughly nine years after being caught dealing drugs while unlawfully armed, mirroring the pattern seen in Zuniga-Magdelano’s case where a firearm surfaced alongside kilogram-level narcotics.
Public court filings provide the basis for the timeline and charges described here, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the matter in federal court. This story will be updated if additional public documents or statements from prosecutors are released.
