Two defendants will serve lengthy prison terms for their role in a methamphetamine-trafficking operation they ran from a mobile home just inside Fayette County in June 2010.
Ismael Guerrero Moya and Bernal Gerson Villafan were each sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine by Fayette County Superior Court Judge Fletcher W. Sams.
Guerrero-Moya received an additional five-year sentence for possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, which means he will serve 35 years in prison.
It took the jury about 10 minutes or so to deliberate the case before returning the guilty verdicts, said Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Hayes.
This was the second trial for both men, as their first trial in December 2010 ended with a hung jury thanks to a juror who refused to consider convicting them, officials said.
According to Hayes, the investigation began with a tip to federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that methamphetamine was being kept at the residence at 385 Greenview Circle in the Landmark Village Mobile Home Park, which has a Fairburn address but lies just inside Fayette County. ICE set up surveillance for a short time and then turned the case over to the Tactical Narcotics Team of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.
That led to one of the TNT agents knocking on the door, and Villafan let them in, allowing the agents to see methamphetamine residue all over the kitchen area and the fact there was no furniture inside the residence, Hayes said. It also led to about 1,830 grams of methamphetamine, roughly three pounds, and a 9mm pistol that was near Guerrero-Moya.
The defendants will have to serve their prison sentences before they can be taken into custody by ICE officials for deportation proceedings, Hayes said.
A third defendant, who was also in the home at the time the methamphetamine was found, pled guilty in November 2010. Uvaldo Alvarado Tequilla was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
