MACON, GA. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Criminal - Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section), published as received.
MACON, Ga. – A metro-Atlanta resident who admitted to distributing methamphetamine in Middle Georgia was sentenced to prison today for his crime.
Victor Penaloza Sanchez, 27, of Cartersville, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 150 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release to run consecutively to a sentence imposed in Cobb County, Georgia, Superior Court Case No. 14-9-1384-52 today after he previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of methamphetamine on March 15. Co-defendant Christian Jesus Pineda, 28, of Duluth, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 38 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on June 7 after he previously pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine on March 21. U.S. District Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self, III handed down the sentences. There is no parole in the federal system.
“Repeat offenders who brazenly disregard the law by choosing to distribute large amounts of the most deadly and addictive illegal substances into our communities face accountability for their crimes at the federal level,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Our office is working with law enforcement to identify and bring to justice those individuals who continually commit crimes that harm the overall safety of our neighborhoods.”
“Methamphetamine continues to ravage many communities in our nation,” said the Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Atlanta Field Division Robert J. Murphy. “Because of the positive results yielded in this case, the sentencing of this repeat offender will put other methamphetamine traffickers on notice that DEA and its law enforcement partners will not tolerate the distribution of this insidious drug.”
According to court documents, a confidential informant (CI) told law enforcement that Sanchez was selling large quantities of methamphetamine. The informant and Sanchez, via multiple text messages and phone calls, agreed to the CI purchasing approximately 500 grams of methamphetamine from Sanchez and that a courier would meet the CI at a gas station in Byron, Georgia, on April 28, 2021, to conduct the transaction. Agents with DEA, Peach County Sheriff’s Office, Byron Police Department and K-9, working with the CI, observed a vehicle driven by Pineda pull into the gas station at the appointed time. The CI approached Pineda, who showed him a clear bag containing a half kilogram of methamphetamine. Sanchez has a previous state conviction for distribution of methamphetamine in Cobb County, Georgia, and was on parole at the time of this incident.
The case was investigated by DEA and the Peach County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Byron Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Keyes prosecuted the case.
