By Larry Valenzuela
The Fresno Bee
FRESNO, Calif. — A Fresno man was ordered Thursday to spend more than a decade in prison for his role in a plot to smuggle drugs into the Fresno County Jail with the help of his mother and an associate.
Alfredo Garcia Jr., 27, was sentenced to 10 years, eight months for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and conspiring to distribute heroin and methamphetamine, acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
Garcia, while already in custody, worked with another inmate and his mother, Eva Romero, to smuggle the narcotics into the jail for distribution among inmates from Dec. 1, 2020, to Jan. 26, 2021, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.
Investigators said they learned about the plan by listening to recorded jail calls, with the scheme calling for the drugs to be hidden inside a pair of athletic shoes meant for an inmate.
Officers intercepted the shoe delivery and said they discovered hidden compartments that held the heroin and methamphetamine.
(c)2021 The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.)