A man from California was sentenced to 15 years in prison after police found methamphetamine made to look like 14 burritos in his backseat during a traffic stop.
Authorities discovered 13.7 pounds of methamphetamine wrapped in foil, with a street value ranging from $27,000 to $40,000.
Ricardo “Flaco” Renteria, 48, of Colton, was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release after he serves his prison sentence and pay a mandatory special assessment of $300, according to Los Angeles Daily News.
Chief U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips found him guilty of three felony charges in March: possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
“He has a very long criminal history,” Phillips said from the bench. “This was a large amount of methamphetamine — and the way it was packaged, it was clearly for sale.” Renteria has been a long-time member of a Los Angeles street gang.
Officers originally pulled him over in the Angelino Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles after they witnessed him driving his white Chevrolet Tahoe both erratically and evasively.
Evidence and testimony presented at the trial revealed that he consented to his vehicle being searched during the traffic stop, during which officers found a the drug-filled black trash bag behind the driver’s seat. They also found a fully-loaded Smith and Wesson .38 Special revolver hidden in a secret compartment next to the driver as well as over $800 cash on the scene.
At his sentencing hearing, Renteria asked the judge to “take into consideration [that] I have a family waiting for me — and I apologize for the situation I find myself in.”
However, Phillips said that a significant prison sentence was necessary “to protect the public from further crimes of the defendant.” She also recommended psychological and physical examinations be given to Renteria while he serves his sentence.
