Kennesaw Couple Sentenced For Trying To Smuggle 14 Kilos Of Meth

KENNESAW, Ga. — A couple from Kennesaw have been sentenced for their part in a drug ring that was conspiring to bring 14 kilograms of methamphetamine back to Georgia from California.

Members of the conspiracy who have been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May are:

• Yadira Gomez-Gonzalez, 34, of Kennesaw, was sentenced to 14 years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Gomez-Gonzalez was convicted on these charges on September 14, 2018, after she pleaded guilty.
• Fernando Herrera-Rojas, 35, of Kennesaw, was sentenced to eight years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Herrera-Rojas pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine on September 14, 2018, and was sentenced on March 29.
• Reynaldo Gonzalez-Arreola, 32, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced to 14 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Gonzalez-Arreola pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine on January 3, and was sentenced on March 19.

Gomez-Gonzalez is the last of three defendants whose drug ring was infiltrated by undercover DEA agents when they attempted to send nearly 14 kilograms of 100 percent pure methamphetamine from California to Georgia.

“This drug trafficking ring affected countless people with the methamphetamine they were sending across the country,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said. “Thankfully our law enforcement partners penetrated this tight-knit group and have removed this poison from our streets.”

Robert J. Murphy, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta DEA office said, “These individuals established a very lucrative methamphetamine smuggling operation in Atlanta that was crushed by the men and women of DEA. DEA along with its partners will continue to fight those predators who distribute poison in our community."

DEA agents identified Gomez-Gonzalez and her husband, Herrera-Rojas, as drug smugglers looking for tractor-trailer drivers to haul drugs between Los Angeles and Atlanta, Pak said. An undercover agent, acting as a long-haul trucker, volunteered for the job and negotiated the terms of the transportation and payment with Gomez-Gonzalez and Herrera-Rojas.

After coordinating by phone with Gomez-Gonzalez and Herrera-Rojas, the undercover agent collected nearly 14 kilograms of pure methamphetamine from Gonzalez-Arreola in Commerce, California. All three defendants were arrested after the undercover agent delivered the drugs to Gomez-Gonzalez and Herrera-Rojas in the Atlanta area, Pak said. Agents also seized $23,890 and a firearm from Gonzalez-Arreola’s home in Los Angeles. Gomez-Gonzalez’s arrest thwarted a separate shipment of drugs she was attempting to coordinate from McAllen, Texas to the Atlanta area.

All three defendants will be deported to Mexico following their sentence of imprisonment, Pak said.

This prosecution was brought as a part of the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s drug supply reduction strategy. The Task Force was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Today, the Task Force combines the resources and expertise of its member federal agencies in cooperation with state and local law enforcement. The principal mission of the Task Force program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation’s drug supply.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Hartigan prosecuted the case.