Source: Office of United States Attorneys
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Yelitzia Ortiz Chaparro, 29, Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 3 years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine. Her husband, Emanuel Gonzalez, 25, Madison, Wisconsin, was sentenced on February 4, 2025, by Judge Peterson to 8 years in federal prison for possessing 500 grams of more of cocaine intended for distribution. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to this charge on November 4, 2024. Ortiz Chaparro pleaded guilty to the methamphetamine charge on November 6, 2024.
Between November of 2022 and February of 2023, Ortiz Chaparro sold cocaine to a confidential source working with the Drug Enforcement Administration on three occasions for a total of 362 grams. On March 17, 2023, Gonzalez and Ortiz Chaparro worked together to deliver one pound of methamphetamine to the confidential source in Madison.
On May 9, 2024, and again on May 15, 2024, Gonzalez sold cocaine to a second confidential source for a total of 198 grams. On June 13, 2024, the second confidential source contacted Gonzalez in order to purchase one pound of methamphetamine. During a telephone call with Gonzalez and Ortiz Chaparro to set up the deal, Ortiz Chaparro told the second confidential source that the price for the methamphetamine was $2,100. Later that day, Gonzalez delivered one pound of methamphetamine to the second confidential source in Madison.
On July 15, 2024, the second confidential source contacted Gonzalez and negotiated the purchase of two ounces of cocaine. Later that day, Gonzalez delivered 56 grams of cocaine to the second confidential source in Madison.
On July 18, 2024, agents executed a federal search warrant at Gonzalez and Ortiz Chaparro’s residence in Madison. Prior to the search, agents arrested Gonzalez and found $9,660 on his person. During the search of the master bedroom of the residence, agents found nearly a kilogram of cocaine in a closet and a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun in a dresser drawer. Agents also found $8,600 inside of a safe in a second bedroom. Agents performed a firearms trace on the recovered 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun and discovered that Gonzalez had purchased it in 2020.
At the sentencing hearing for Ortiz Chaparro, Judge Peterson stated that the large amounts of drugs she distributed for a significant period of time made it a very serious crime. Judge Peterson noted that the while the evidence showed that Gonzalez initially got Ortiz Chaparro involved in drug trafficking, she quickly “leaned into” selling significant quantities of drugs on her own.
At the sentencing hearing for Gonzalez, Judge Peterson stated that the evidence showed that Gonzalez had been responsible for distributing large amounts of illegal drugs prior to selling drugs to the confidential sources during the investigation. Judge Peterson also stated that Gonzalez made the situation worse by keeping a loaded firearm in an unlocked dresser drawer that was accessible to his young child and in close proximity to a large amount of cocaine.
The charges against Gonzalez and Ortiz Chaparro were the result of an investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Wisconsin State Patrol, and the Madison Police Department. The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner handled the prosecution.