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CHARLESTON -- A Mexican man arrested in Jackson County was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison this week on drug and immigration charges.
Joel Gonzalez-Gomez, 31, of Chipas, Mexico, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and illegal entry of a removed alien, according to a release from the office of Mike Stuart, United States attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia.
A 2019 drug investigation in Kanawha County led to the execution of a search warrant at Gonzalez-Gomez's Charleston residence on Nov. 20, 2019. Investigators seized more than a kilogram of methamphetamine, 12 grams of fentanyl, 28 grams of cocaine and three firearms during the search, the release said. Gonzalez-Gomez was arrested the same day at a residence in Cottageville.
According to the release, he had been deported five times dating from 2013.
The Drug Enforcement Administration; Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team; and the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation. U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin imposed the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua C. Hanks handled the prosecution.