Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Ryan Gines, 44, of Hanford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to 15 years and six months in prison for trafficking methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.
According to court documents, in March 2019, various federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies partnered in Operation Red Reaper, an investigation into the Nuestra Familia prison gang and the Norteño street gang in Kings County. The investigation uncovered that Nuestra Familia was responsible for large-scale trafficking of methamphetamine and other controlled substances, as well as various firearms offenses and other violent crimes. The operation resulted in federal charges brought against 21 drug traffickers, including Gines.
In May 2019, recorded interceptions on a wiretap revealed that Gines was conspiring with others to obtain and sell more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine. With the aid of the wiretap, shortly after midnight, a Kings County Sheriff’s deputy stopped the car transporting that methamphetamine, searched the car, and found the drugs.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Kings County Gang Task Force, Agents of the Special Operations Unit which is a team of agents from the California Department of Justice and the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the FBI, the Kings County District Attorney’s Office, and the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office. The DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and Homeland Security Investigations all assisted with the takedown. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.