Monday, Sep. 22, 2008

Moreno Valley men sentenced for transporting meth through Merced County

Narcotics team discovered bags of meth hidden in lawnmower.

By VICTOR A. PATTON
vpatton@mercedsun-star.com

Two men convicted earlier this year on methamphetamine charges were each sentenced Friday in Merced Superior Court to nine years in state prison.

Moreno Valley residents Gabriel Reyes Guerrero, 35, and Martin Herrera Robles, 38, were given the sentence by Judge Carol Ash for transporting two pounds of methamphetamine with the intent to sell, according to the Merced County District Attorney's Office.

The duo were arrested in Los Banos in September last year. Officers with the Los Banos Police Department and the Merced Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force took the pair into custody after they were linked to a Ford truck with a lawn mower in its bed. Inside the lawn mower's grass catcher, investigators found two pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of nearly $100,000, according to prosecutor Steve Slocum.

Slocum said the truck was registered in Robles' name.

Officers also located a .45 caliber handgun and a .38 caliber handgun, both of which were semi-automatic. Neither gun was registered to Robles or Guerrero, according to the District Attorney's Office.

The jury also found the defendants guilty of personal possession of a firearm while trafficking narcotics. The trial lasted seven days and jurors deliberated for less than five hours before returning with their verdicts, Slocum said.

Reporter Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or vpatton@mercedsun-star.com.