A man caught hauling more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment of a car he was driving through southern Oregon in 2021 was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison.
Daniel Martin Ponce-Gonzalez, believed to live in Yakima, Washington, was stopped for unspecified traffic violations while driving a black sedan north on U.S. 97 on June 19, 2021, according to a federal prosecutor. He wasn’t legally in the U.S. and gave officers a false name and fake ID documents, according to court records.
After police said Ponce-Gonzalez and his passenger agreed to allow officers to search the Nissan Altima, they found an aftermarket hidden compartment between a back seat and the trunk, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Marco A. Boccato.
Police found 55.1 pounds of methamphetamine, 953 grams of cocaine and 1,027 fentanyl pills in the compartment.
In July, Ponce-Gonzalez, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Boccato sought a longer sentence of six and a half years. He said Ponce-Gonzalez first denied knowing about the drugs but later admitted he had placed them in the “trap” of the car.
Ponce-Gonzalez said he was transporting the drugs to settle an old drug debt from about 15 years earlier., Boccato wrote in a sentencing memo. Ponce-Gonzalez also told police he paid about $300 for a fake ID card.
He had previously been sentenced to prison in Washington for drug trafficking and had been deported, but his record failed to dissuade him from the drug trade, Boccato said.
Defense attorney Justin N. Rosas sought a much shorter prison term of two years and six months for Ponce-Gonzalez.
He said his client was arrested at age 23 when he was riding as a passenger in a car driven by a suspect in a drug investigation. Ponce-Gonzalez has worked as a farm laborer for 16 years and has two children, Rosas said.
Ponce-Gonzalez is committed to his Catholic faith and has a tattoo of St. Jude, the “Patron Saint for the Hopeless and Despaired,” Rosas wrote in his sentencing memo.
“Mr. Ponce-Gonzalez turned to narcotics as a functional working man of color who was dealing with mental health issues that were untreated,” given his undocumented status in the U.S. and a lack of resources, Rosas wrote.
“There is no benefit for society or for this Court in sending Mr. Ponce-Gonzalez to prison for a significant period of time prior to his deportation,” Rosas wrote.
U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane sentenced Ponce-Gonzalez to a term between the defense and prosecution’s requests.
Federal agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, with help from Oregon State Police and Homeland Security Investigation agents, investigated the case.
