SAN FRANCISCO — A San Mateo County man has been sentenced to a decade behind bars after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine, court records show.
Francisco Ricardo Miranda, 37, was sentenced last month by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen. Miranda pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge back in May, court records show.
Prosecutors called Miranda a “central figure” in a drug ring that transported methamphetamine and cocaine to the Bay Area from from Mexico and Southern California. He was identified as a supplier during a wiretap aimed at one of his customers, Raudel Macias, who is facing a separate federal case, court records show.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Pastor wrote in a sentencing memo that the wiretap led to “significant” seizures of cocaine and methamphetamine in 2020, including one where drug agents found 22 pounds of methamphetamine at a “stash house” in Mountain View that Miranda had visited earlier in the day.
Miranda’s lawyer argued for a prison term no longer than 87 months, and argued that a 2010 drug conviction shouldn’t be used against him now.
“A 70-87 month sentence would be sufficient to serve the goals of deterrence and punishment, while still allowing Mr. Miranda – who is only 37 years old with a wife and four young children – a chance at rehabilitation and an opportunity to contribute to society and to ensure the stability and success of the next generation for which he is responsible,” the lawyer, Jesse Garcia, wrote in a sentencing memo.