Los Angeles Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Distribute Heroin in Stockton

FRESNO, Calif. — Daniel Quiroz, 41, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty today to conspiring to distribute heroin, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Quiroz, acting at the direction of a Mexican source of heroin, delivered over 500 grams of heroin to a confidential source in Anaheim, in exchange for $3,070. Subsequently, Quiroz delivered over a kilogram of heroin to co-defendant Roberto Palacios-Garcia, 37, of Guerrero, Mexico, residing in California. Palacios-Garcia then sold the drug to a confidential source in Stockton for $6,080. The total amount of heroin involved was 1.5 kilograms or about 3.3 pounds.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar is prosecuting the case.

Palacios-Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin and, on Jan. 19, 2021, was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison.

Quiroz is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston on July 10, 2023. Quiroz faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years, a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison, and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.