Gregorio Blas Cruz Jr. Sentenced to Prison in Drug Case

          SHAWN N. ANDERSON, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant Gregorio Blas Cruz, Jr., age 50, originally from Mongmong, Guam, was sentenced on February 13, 2019, in two cases involving Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine Hydrochloride, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).  The District Court sentenced Cruz to concurrent 70-month terms of imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release.  The Court also ordered Cruz to pay a mandatory $200 assessment fee.  In addition, defendants who are convicted of a federal drug offense may no longer qualify for certain federal benefits.

          On July 8, 2015, Cruz pled guilty to possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute, in a case involving approximately 33 grams of ice and the seizure of $3,390 in U.S. currency.   On April 21, 2016, while on pretrial release for that case, Cruz was arrested again for a similar offense.  His second case involved 292 grams of methamphetamine and the seizure of over $1,000 in U.S. currency.  Cruz had prior convictions in the Superior Court of Guam for family violence, theft and drugs.

          The government requested a significant downward departure in Cruz’s sentence due to his providing law enforcement with information that resulted in the seizure of approximately ten pounds of methamphetamine.  A DEA Task Force Officer from the Judiciary of Guam, Probation Office, testified at sentencing that the street value of the ten pounds of methamphetamine was over two million dollars.  Due to Cruz’s 25-year drug addiction, the Court recommended his enrollment in a Bureau of Prisons drug treatment program while incarcerated. 

          The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation, in conjunction with Judiciary of Guam, Probation Office and Guam Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Belinda Alcantara, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Guam.