Federal prosecutors say an Elk Grove man who admitted to running a multi-state drug-trafficking network has been ordered to spend the next nine years in federal prison. On Monday, a judge sentenced Delanious Ward to 108 months after his December 2024 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Prosecutors told the court that Ward oversaw cocaine and fentanyl shipments that crossed state lines, ending a case that pulled in multiple jurisdictions and agencies.
According to Action News Now, Ward was swept up in a seven-person takedown in 2024, and agents found cocaine and fentanyl on him at the time of his arrest. Court documents cited in the outlet’s report describe investigators using a 60-day wiretap during the investigation.
Multi-Agency OCDETF Investigation
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California has said the prosecutions grew out of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces strike-force effort that combined wiretaps, surveillance and coordinated arrests. An earlier press release from the office notes that other defendants in the probe received sentences or pleaded guilty and lists participating agencies including the DEA, FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and local law enforcement. As the office described it, the Sacramento Strike Force model co-locates agents to tackle wide-ranging trafficking networks; see the U.S. Attorney’s release for background.
The DEA also publicized earlier rollouts of the same investigation, noting that in March 2025 Manuel Greenhalgh was sentenced to 46 months and that co-defendant Albert Gurley received a seven-year term in related prosecutions. The DEA emphasized the scale of the seizures and the multi-agency coordination involved.
Legal Context And Next Steps
Ward pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, according to court documents and prosecutors, a federal offense that carries significant prison time and a period of supervised release. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron L. Desmond and Emily G. Sauvageau handled the prosecution; for earlier filings and related case details see the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California…