PENSACOLA, Florida — Alejandro Palomino-Amador, a 33-year-old from Escondido, California, has been sentenced to 17.5 years in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy.
The sentencing was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Palomino-Amador, also known as “Ichi,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine. “Dismantling this large-scale drug trafficking operation and sending its participants to federal prison for decades-long sentences vindicates the untold devastation they inflicted upon our communities by flooding our streets with deadly poison,” said Heekin.
Palomino-Amador was the last defendant sentenced in a case involving 15 individuals. He was a major drug dealer in southern California, supplying methamphetamine and fentanyl to co-defendant Phillip Martin, who then distributed the drugs to Ohagee Curry in Pensacola, Florida. In August 2022, law enforcement intercepted Martin in southern California, recovering 77 pounds of methamphetamine from his vehicle. A subsequent search of Palomino-Amador’s storage unit uncovered an additional 80 pounds of methamphetamine and over 4,000 grams of fentanyl…