OAKLAND — A man who in 2018 was arrested by Antioch police on suspicion of possessing a quarter-ounce of methamphetamine and a loaded pistol was sentenced to six years and three months in federal prison, court records show.
Jesus Manuel Vasquez was sentenced May 19, to settle a federal case that charged him with possession with intent to distribute meth.
The charges stem from an October 2018 arrest in Antioch, when police pulled Vasquez over for a traffic violation. In his black Mercedes Benz, officers found a quarter-ounce of meth that had been divided into 11 baggies, as well as a loaded Springfield XD pistol, according to prosecutors.
Vasquez accepted the prison sentence and used his time in jail as an opportunity to improve his life. During his pretrial jail stay, he “availed himself of nearly every program in which he could enroll while in custody,” and obtained a GED, his attorney wrote in court records.
The defense further argued that Vasquez’s offense stemmed from a 25-yearlong addiction to meth.
Prosecutors, though, noted that Vasquez was convicted of a drug offense in 2013 and was on supervised released during his 2018 arrest. This time, he “was in possession of a much greater quantity of methamphetamine and he yet again was in possession of a loaded firearm,” prosecutors wrote.
