JANUARY 25, 2008                               

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           CONTACT AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/md            MARCIA MURPHY at (410) 209-4885

MEMBER OF FELLS POINT DRUG GANG SENTENCED
TO TEN YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
14 Defendants Have Pleaded Guilty to Date

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis sentenced Vanessa Ruiz, age 22, of Baltimore, today to ten years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to her guilty plea, from November 2005 through December 2006, Ruiz participated in the sale of crack cocaine with other members of the drug conspiracy. Ruiz delivered crack cocaine to drug customers and made at least three sales of crack cocaine totaling approximately 150 grams to an undercover agent.

Co-defendants Humberto Gasca, age 35, of Baltimore, and his wife Josefina Quinonez, age 41, of Aurora, Colorado, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and were sentenced on November 2, 2007 to 160 months and 120 months in prison, respectively. Judge Davis enhanced Humberto Gasca’s sentence upon finding that he is a career offender based on prior convictions for robbery and distribution of narcotics, and based on his leadership and supervisory role over 15 other defendants in this case.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Baltimore City Police Department for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kwame J. Manley and Stephanie A. Gallagher, who are prosecuting the case.