Mexican Citizen Pleads Guilty to Distributing Fentanyl in Bakersfield

FRESNO, Calif. — Jesus Adrian Pena-Gamez, 33, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possessing with the intent to distribute fentanyl, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. Pena-Gamez is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd on March 14, 2022.

According to court documents, on April 7, 2021, Pena-Gamez and codefendant Carlos Ivan Campana met in the parking lot of a Bakersfield restaurant to sell to a person 15,000 counterfeit M-30 pills containing fentanyl. During the meeting, Pena-Gamez and Campana were arrested and law enforcement officers recovered from Pena-Gamez’s vehicle approximately three pounds of pills containing a detectable amount of fentanyl.

Codefendant Campana is charged in the indictment with distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine on three prior occasions between November 2020 and April 2021. He is scheduled to appear for a status conference on March 9, 2022. The charges against him are only allegations; he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant United States Attorney Christopher D. Baker is prosecuting the case.

Pena-Gamez faces a minimum sentence of ten years in prison, a maximum term of life in prison, and a $10,000,000 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.