A federal judge has handed an Oakland man an eight-year federal prison sentence after prosecutors said he was selling fentanyl and other drugs in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. Andy Cruz, 40, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and to failing to appear in court. Senior U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer remanded him to custody on the spot, and prosecutors say Cruz will face four years of supervised release after his federal term ends.
Case timeline and charges
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, Cruz was charged by complaint on Oct. 11, 2023 and indicted on Oct. 25, 2023. Authorities say officers executed a search warrant on Oct. 5, 2023 at Cruz’s residence, car and person and recovered nearly one kilogram of fentanyl, 76 grams of heroin and 25 grams of methamphetamine. Prosecutors say he was released on bond on Nov. 6, 2023, then absconded around February 2024. He was separately indicted on April 2, 2024 for failure to appear, was located and arrested on May 6, 2025, and pleaded guilty on Wednesday. He was remanded following sentencing.
Searches, seizures and the plea
Prosecutors say officers observed Cruz dealing in the Tenderloin and from his vehicle, and that those observations, along with the October 2023 searches, formed the backbone of the federal case. Local coverage from SFGATE noted prosecutors’ allegations that Cruz had sold drugs in San Francisco and elsewhere since 2008 and that the searches turned up multiple suspected controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.
Part of a broader federal push
The sentence lands in the middle of a broader federal enforcement offensive that has targeted defendants tied to the Tenderloin, especially in cases involving large fentanyl seizures. A June 12, 2025, press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California described an 11-plus-year sentence after authorities recovered roughly eight pounds of fentanyl during a December 2023 search, an example of the federal focus on higher volume fentanyl distribution…