DOWNEY — Federal prosecutors say two men connected to a Downey residence long suspected as a smuggling hub for Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel have now taken divergent paths in the justice system — one serving a federal prison sentence and the other a fugitive from custody.
Julio Cesar Nevarez-Erunez, 24, was sentenced Dec. 4 to 70 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, authorities said. Nevarez-Erunez, formerly of Downey and now of Salem, Oregon, received the sentence in U.S. District Court in Sacramento before Judge Daniel J. Calabretta.
Nevarez-Erunez and co-defendant Juan Niebla-Osuna, 28, of Downey, were identified by investigators as distributors of methamphetamine and heroin believed to be sourced from the Sinaloa cartel, according to court filings and federal officials. In July 2022 the pair sold about 15 pounds of methamphetamine to a confidential government informant as part of a sting operation…