A 62-year-old San Diego man with a long felony track record is headed back to federal prison after what prosecutors say was a multi-agency takedown loaded with drugs and guns.
Robert Stokes, a ten-time felon, was sentenced today to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking and illegal firearm charges. Prosecutors said the investigation turned up jars of PCP, bags of methamphetamine and a cache of weapons.
According to court records, officers first searched Stokes’s Jeep and found 67 jars of PCP along with several bags of methamphetamine. Investigators then searched two recreational vehicles in Julian, where they seized more than one kilogram of PCP and meth, digital scales and six firearms, including rifles and a handgun fitted with a suppressor, as reported by FOX5 San Diego.
Stokes pleaded guilty to the latest round of charges in April 2026 and was sentenced in federal court in San Diego, prosecutors said. U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon described Stokes’s history as four decades of crime. Ten felony convictions. Finally, after this federal conviction, one problem was solved, according to FOX5 San Diego. Officials also said Stokes is barred from possessing firearms because of nine prior felony convictions.
How investigators say the case came together
Prosecutors say the case started with coordinated surveillance and traffic stops by San Diego police working alongside federal partners. Those early encounters led to search warrants, which investigators used to recover evidence from vehicles and the Julian RVs. Officials noted that this kind of joint operation tracks with other recent multi-agency takedowns documented in the region by the DEA.
Federal penalties and legal context
Under federal law, anyone convicted of a felony is generally prohibited from possessing firearms, and a felon-in-possession charge alone can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Drug trafficking counts can add significant additional time on top of that. The firearm ban for felons is set out in 18 U.S.C. § 922, a statute prosecutors often use alongside federal drug charges.
Stokes will serve the 10-year term imposed by the judge and will be subject to whatever supervised release and forfeiture conditions the court ordered. Additional details on restitution or asset forfeiture could appear in upcoming court filings.
