United States Drug Enforcement Administration

FRESNO, Calif. - Carlos Gerrardo Blanco, 27, of Bakersfield, was sentenced yesterday by United States Chief District Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine.

According to court documents, between November 2014 and December 2015 Blanco distributed and conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine to various drug dealers and users in Kern County and Las Cruces, New Mexico. During this time period, Blanco and the other defendants charged in this case admitted that they distributed over 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Based on wiretap evidence obtained in this case, investigators identified Salvador Morales, 28, and Jose Alejandro Jacobo, 25, both of Bakersfield, as the principal suppliers of methamphetamine to Blanco. Blanco was identified as the leader of a Bakersfield distribution organization that included Justin Alan Rivera, 22, Henry Polin Morales III, 22, and Josefina (Blanco’s wife), 25, all of Bakersfield. On May 6, 2015, Blanco purchased approximately five pounds of crystal methamphetamine in the Los Angeles area that he intended to sell with the help of Morales III, Josefina Blanco, and Rivera. DEA agents seized the drugs before they could be transported via bus to Las Cruces, New Mexico.  

On September 26, 2016, Salvador Morales was sentenced to over six years in prison; on March 13, 2017, Jacobo was sentenced to over seven years in prison; on August 14, 2017, Rivera was sentenced to five years in prison, and on September 25, 2017, Henry Morales III was sentenced to over seven years in prison. Josefina Blanco is scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2017, by Chief Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Task Force Officers from the Kern County Probation Office. Assistant United States Attorney Brian K. Delaney prosecuted the case.