A Lodi man is under a four-count federal indictment accusing him of distributing methamphetamine in San Joaquin County, with prosecutors putting the alleged sales at 15 pounds.
The Sacramento Bee reported that a federal grand jury indicted Abel Vargas Barrera, 52, on Thursday. Prosecutors allege he sold that methamphetamine to a confidential source across four transactions in January, February, March and July.
A phone, a meeting spot, a rural stash
The alleged sales were not one handoff. According to the Bee, prosecutors say Barrera used a cellphone to set the deals, arranged meetings in the Lodi area, and retrieved the methamphetamine from a rural property they describe as a stash house.
FOX40 reported that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California identified Vargas Barrera as a methamphetamine supplier in San Joaquin County. An indictment is the government's accusation. It is not a conviction.
Ten years, or life
The Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation, with assistance from a California Department of Justice special operations unit and the Elk Grove Police Department, the Bee reported.
If a jury convicts him, the Bee reported, Barrera faces a minimum of 10 years and up to life in federal prison, along with a fine of up to $10 million. That is the exposure now attached to four counts and 15 alleged pounds.
