CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A California man who played a central role in a massive methamphetamine trafficking ring operating in southern West Virginia was sentenced Tuesday to 27 years in federal prison.
Alejandro Gallegos, also known as “Alex,” “Rooster,” “G,” and “Primo,” 42, of Hacienda Heights, California, will also serve five years of supervised release following his prison term.
Gallegos admitted to serving as a major supplier in a drug trafficking organization that operated in the Charleston area.
According to court records, between February 2021 and March 2023, Gallegos conspired with others to distribute methamphetamine and cocaine in the Southern District of West Virginia.
On March 18, 2023, Gallegos instructed co-defendant Ildiberto Gonzalez Jr. to transport roughly 196 pounds of methamphetamine and four kilograms of cocaine from California to Bluefield, West Virginia, using a 2009 Freightliner semi-truck.
The shipment was arranged in exchange for approximately $400,000 with another co-conspirator based in West Virginia.
The drug transfer occurred in a parking lot in Bluefield on March 22, 2023, where Gonzalez exchanged the drugs for a box he believed contained cash.
Gonzalez, 31, of San Bernardino, California, was previously sentenced on July 22, 2024, to 14 years in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty.
Gallegos and Gonzalez are two of 31 people convicted in Operation Smoke and Mirrors, a sweeping investigation that led to the largest methamphetamine seizure in West Virginia history.
Authorities confiscated over 400 pounds of meth, 40 pounds of cocaine, three pounds of fentanyl, 19 firearms, and $935,000 in cash.
Gallegos was held responsible for approximately 740 pounds of methamphetamine.
“No defendant sentenced in the Southern District of West Virginia has been responsible for the amount of methamphetamine attributable to this defendant. There is no comparison,” said Acting United States Attorney Lisa G. Johnston.
“While thousands of miles away from our communities, he directed methamphetamine from Mexico to West Virginia for the sake of profits, knowing that his actions would add to the devastation of the drug abuse crisis in the Southern District of West Virginia.”
Judge Thomas E. Johnston handed down the sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeremy B. Wolfe prosecuted the case.
The investigation was led by multiple agencies, including the FBI, DEA, HSI, ATF, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, West Virginia State Police, MDENT, and local law enforcement across several counties.
The case was prosecuted under the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a federal program designed to dismantle high-level drug and money laundering operations.
