Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Modesto Hells Angels Member Sentenced to 6.5 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Gun Possession
FRESNO, Calif. — Ricky Blackwell, 30, of Modesto, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to six and a half years in prison for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.
According to court documents, Blackwell was a member of the Modesto chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. Blackwell was intercepted in wiretapped phone calls discussing drug dealing. When officers searched Blackwell’s residence, they found a safe containing a firearm, cocaine, drug packaging materials, and Hells Angels memorabilia.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Modesto Police Department, the Turlock Police Department, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office, the Los Banos Police Department, and the California Highway Patrol. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ross Pearson and Laurel Montoya prosecuted the case.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
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