A Bradenton man has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in federal prison for distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. Alejandro Marquetti-Blanco, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kyle Dudek, following a federal jury's guilty verdict earlier this year.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, Marquetti-Blanco was sentenced out of the court's Fort Myers division. A federal jury found Marquetti-Blanco guilty earlier this year.
A federal jury found Marquetti-Blanco guilty earlier this year.
A Pattern of Lengthy Sentences in the Region
Marquetti-Blanco's case is one of several recent methamphetamine prosecutions out of the Middle District of Florida that have ended in double-digit prison terms. The same federal prosecutors' office reported that Cornell Weaver, 38, of Cocoa, was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine, and that Frederick Taylor, 38, of North Fort Myers, was sentenced by Judge Dudek to 27 years for the same offense.
Those figures sit well above the national norm. The United States Sentencing Commission reported that the average sentence for individuals trafficking methamphetamine was 105 months, or just under nine years, for fiscal year 2025.
Other Bradenton Drug Cases
Marquetti-Blanco is not the only Bradenton resident to face a lengthy prison term over drug distribution in 2025. A federal judge sentenced 42-year-old Bradenton resident Jimmy Altidor to 15 years in prison, according to the Bradenton Herald, after Altidor pleaded guilty and faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to life in prison because of a prior federal drug conviction.
In a separate case, a Manatee County judge sentenced 43-year-old Pedro Garcia to 25 years in prison after he pleaded no contest to trafficking in fentanyl and other felony charges, the newspaper reported. Garcia was also ordered to pay more than $1.15 million in fines. Two co-defendants in that same case, Rocky Jimenez, 44, and Pablo Adrian Estrada, 34, received 15 years and roughly five years respectively after pleading guilty or no contest to related charges, per the same account.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announcement of the sentencing was shared on X by the account @usao_mdfl
