Suspect pleads guilty to meth possession, a case aided by Fairfield-based FBI agent

A Stanislaus County man pleaded guilty to possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute it, a case aided by a Fairfieldbased FBI agent.

Juan Carlos Cortez-Gomez, 51, of Riverbank, pleaded guilty to the charges on Monday in a Sacramento federal courtroom, said Phillip A. Talbert, acting U.S. Attorney for the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California.

In a press release, Talbert, citing court documents, said that on Sept. 15, 2020, Cortez-Gomez agreed to sell methamphetamine to an FBI informant, a confidential source who is in custody for a pending narcotics and firearms case. When Cortez-Gomez arrived at the location for the sale at an ARCO gas station in Stockton, he was arrested by officers.

A search of his truck revealed 10 pounds of methamphetamine. During a post-arrest statement, Cortez-Gomez admitted he knowingly possessed the methamphetamine and that he was planning to sell it, Talbert noted in the prepared statement.

This case is the product of an investigation by FBI special agent Nathan G. Cernat, who works with the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force in Fairfield, the California Highway Patrol, and the Stockton Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella leads the prosecution.

Cortez-Gomez is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 21, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller.

Cortez-Gomez faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court and federal sentencing guidelines.

The case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.

PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally-based prevention and re-entry programs for lasting reductions in crime, said Talbert.