WASHINGTON (WUSA) -- Six sentenced for attempting to create a distribution network for crystal methamphetamine in the Washington, D.C. area.
Alfonso Martinez-Cruz, 39, was the lastest to be sentenced on June 22 by the U.S. District Court. He received 81 months in prison on a charge of conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine.
Others who plead guilty and were sentenced in this case are: Alberto Garcia Calderon, 37 years-of-age and leader of the ring, received a 16-year prison term; Alejandro Quintana Cardenas, 26, sentenced 15 years; Sergio Garcia-Virelas, 26, sentenced 11 years; Felipe Alvarado-Ponce, 37, received a 64-month prison term and Jesus Bustos-Penaloza, 53; senteced to seven years.
All were arrested in various locations in the Atlanta, Ga. area and Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) estimates the street values of the seized drugs included more than $13 million worth of methamphetamine, $118,000 of cocaine, and $49,500 of marijuana.
The investigation developed evidence that the ring had or was claiming ties to "La Familia," a Mexican drug cartel that operates in that country and the United States.