From Denny Walsh:
A drug dealer from Corning was sentenced Monday in Sacramento federal court to 24 1/2 years in prison for conspiracy, possession for distribution of methamphetamine, and possession of a firearm during a drug transaction.
Ricardo Valencia Diaz, 31, was found guilty by a jury June 10, at the conclusion of a four-week trial.
A confederate, Sabas Miramontes, 27, of Colusa, was sentenced Monday to 12 years and seven months in prison. He pleaded guilty May 9 to a distribution conspiracy.
They are two of seven people charged with a narcotics trafficking conspiracy involving a late night meth deal in early 2007 at a Yuba City Wal-Mart parking lot.
According to prosecutors Philip Ferrari and Todd Pickles, evidence they introduced at trial detailed a negotiation of the deal between Miramontes and an informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
On Feb. 24, 2007, six individuals, including Diaz, traveled from Corning to Yuba City with approximately four pounds of meth, the prosecutors said. Diaz and two others were in his pickup truck, along with an SKS military rifle and ammunition, they said.
Trial evidence established the trio was there to provide security for the meeting, and Diaz brought the rifle at the request of the conspiracy's leader, Victor Alvarado, according to Ferrari and Pickles.
Co-conspirators Margarito Caballero and Jose Luis Diaz were previously sentenced to 24 years and four months and 11 years and three months, respectively.
Two others are awaiting sentencing.
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