A routine traffic stop in Oklahoma City spiraled into a full-blown federal case that will cost one local man nearly a decade of his life and then his place in the country.
Ramon Zuniga-Magdelano, 48, has been sentenced to 108 months in federal prison, followed by supervised release, after admitting he possessed cocaine with intent to distribute and unlawfully had a firearm. The punishment stems from a Dec. 19, 2024 traffic stop and a later search of his Oklahoma City home, where investigators say they found more than 1,100 grams of cocaine and a handgun. After he serves his federal time, immigration authorities plan to deport him.
According to KOKH, Oklahoma City police pulled Zuniga-Magdelano over on Dec. 19, 2024, arrested him on an outstanding warrant and found cocaine on him during the stop. Officers later executed a search warrant at his residence, where they seized more than 1,100 grams of cocaine and a firearm, public records show. The station reports that a superseding information filed July 30, 2025, charged him with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, and that he pleaded guilty on Sept. 4, 2025.
How the charges add up
Federal law treats possession with intent to distribute as a serious offense. 21 U.S.C. § 841 lays out tiered penalties that increase with the amount of drugs involved, with kilogram-level quantities drawing especially stiff time. The firearm count falls under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5), which bars unlawful aliens from possessing firearms and is frequently paired with drug charges when guns and narcotics turn up together…