Grand jury indicts alleged prison drug smugglers
By THE BAKERSFIELD CALIFORNIAN
A federal grand jury in Fresno returned three indictments Thursday charging seven individuals -- including three from Bakersfield -- with methamphetamine trafficking offenses, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.
The defendants allegedly conspired to smuggle drugs into Atwater Penitentiary.
Dimas Mazon, 27; Ulisses Lopez , 23; and Erik Lopez, 20; all of Bakersfield, are charged in a three-count indictment with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and distributing methamphetamine between Aug. 28 and Oct. 23 of last year.
The third count charges Erik Lopez with possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute on Jan. 25 of this year.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison.
Additional suspects were arrested in Fresno and Merced counties.
The arrests were the product of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the drug Enforcement Administration, the Bakersfield Police Department, and the Kern County Sherriff's Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Kevin Rooney is prosecuting the case.
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