Worcester, MA... A Los Angeles truck driver was sentenced late yesterday in federal court on federal drug offenses.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Kenneth W. Kaiser, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England; and June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, announced that DAVID GONZALEZ, age 29, formerly of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV to five years in prison, followed by four years of supervised release. GONZALEZ pleaded guilty on May 18, 2005 to one count of conspiracy to distribute over 100 grams of heroin, and two counts of distributing over 100 grams of heroin.

At an earlier plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the Government's evidence would have proven that on July 10, 2003, GONZALEZ and co-defendant Romelio Salazar-Salguero, distributed a half kilogram of heroin to members of the FBI drug task force at the King Arthur Motel in Chelsea, Massachusetts. GONZALEZ and Salazar-Salguero had driven from California to Massachusetts in a tractor-trailer truck to deliver a truck load of produce and sold the heroin to task force undercover agents during their stop over in Chelsea. During the deal, GONZALEZ handled the negotiations and the transaction while Salazar-Salguero acted as a look-out.

GONZALEZ and Salazar-Salguero returned to Massachusetts on July 23, 2003 and arranged to sell another half kilogram of heroin to DEA task force members at the Massachusetts Turnpike rest area located in Charlton, Massachusetts. GONZALEZ and Salazar-Salguero were arrested while delivering the heroin to the undercover task force members.

Salazar-Salguero pleaded guilty on March 30, 2006, and was sentenced to 37 months of imprisonment, followed by deportation to Guatemala.

Both defendants have been in custody since their arrest on July 23, 2003.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Drug Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Drug Task Force. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Casey in Sullivan's Worcester Office.

Press Contact: Christina Dilorio-Sterling, at 617-748-3356