Latest news with #OperationNightDrop
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
California inmate gets 5 years for drone drug delivery scheme
June 4 (UPI) -- A Pleasant Valley State Prison inmate in California will spend five more years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to possess and distribute illicit drugs via drone deliveries in 2021. Michael Ray Acosta, from May 23 to Aug. 27, 2021, coordinated several drone deliveries of methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana from inside the state prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced on Tuesday. Acosta used a contraband cellphone to schedule the drug deliveries that four co-conspirators delivered by flying drones over the prison and dropped packages that Acosta and others would recover, Beckwith said. The packages included drugs, cellphones, cellphone accessories and other items during what federal investigators dubbed "Operation Night Drop." Accomplice Jose Oropeza is scheduled for sentencing on charges arising from the drone drug deliveries on July 28. Alleged accomplice David Ramirez Jr. is expected to plead guilty on July 29, and Joshua Gonzalez and Rosendo Ramirez have court appearances scheduled on June 11. The four are accused of flying the drones that made the drug deliveries. Investigators with the FBI, Federal Aviation Administration, Drug Enforcement Agency and the California Department of Corrections investigated the case. The prison is located in Central California's Fresno County and about 55 miles southwest of Fresno. A prison record says Acosta is 50, but the Department of Justice's press release indicates he is 48. Neither the DOJ nor the prison record says why Acosta already was imprisoned or for how long.
UPI
2 days ago
- UPI
California inmate gets 5 years for drone drug delivery scheme
A man already serving time in a California prison was sentenced to five more years for conspiring to obtain and distribute drugs using drone deliveries. Photo by Activedia/Pixabay June 4 (UPI) -- A Pleasant Valley State Prison inmate in California will spend five more years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to possess and distribute illicit drugs via drone deliveries in 2021. Michael Ray Acosta, from May 23 to Aug. 27, 2021, coordinated several drone deliveries of methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana from inside the state prison, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith announced on Tuesday. Acosta used a contraband cellphone to schedule the drug deliveries that four co-conspirators delivered by flying drones over the prison and dropped packages that Acosta and others would recover, Beckwith said. The packages included drugs, cellphones, cellphone accessories and other items during what federal investigators dubbed "Operation Night Drop." Accomplice Jose Oropeza is scheduled for sentencing on charges arising from the drone drug deliveries on July 28. Alleged accomplice David Ramirez Jr. is expected to plead guilty on July 29, and Joshua Gonzalez and Rosendo Ramirez have court appearances scheduled on June 11. The four are accused of flying the drones that made the drug deliveries. Investigators with the FBI, Federal Aviation Administration, Drug Enforcement Agency and the California Department of Corrections investigated the case. The prison is located in Central California's Fresno County and about 55 miles southwest of Fresno. A prison record says Acosta is 50, but the Department of Justice's press release indicates he is 48. Neither the DOJ nor the prison record says why Acosta already was imprisoned or for how long.
CBS News
3 days ago
- General
- CBS News
California inmate sentenced in scheme to deliver drugs into prison by drone
An inmate at a California correctional facility has been sentenced for his role in a scheme where drugs, phones and other items were delivered to the prison by drones, federal prosecutors said. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Michele Beckwith announced that 48-year-old Michael Ray Costa received a five-year prison term. Acosta is an inmate at Pleasant Valley State Prison near Coalinga in Fresno County. Prosecutors said Acosta pled guilty to conspiring to distribute and posses with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana. Acosta was one of five people charged in "Operation Night Drop", a multi-agency investigation targeting drone incursions over prisons. According to court documents, Acosta used a contraband cellphone to coordinate multiple drone deliveries into the prison between May and August 2021. Four co-conspirators, identified as Joshua Gonzlez, Jose Oropeza Rosendo, Rosendo Ramirez and David Ramirez Jr., flew drones over the prisons and dropped packages behind prison walls. Acosta and his associates would then recover the items for further distribution, prosecutors said. Items smuggled into the prison included methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, cellphones, phone accessories and other items. Prosecutors also announced that Oropeza is scheduled to be sentenced for his role in the scheme on July 28, while Ramirez is expected to plead guilty on the same day. Meanwhile, the next court appearance for Gonzalez and Ramirez is scheduled for June 11.
