PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams announced that Luis Gomez, 33, of Reading, PA, was sentenced to 19 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine by United States District Court Judge Edward G. Smith for possessing a large quantity of crystal methamphetamine and a loaded pistol at his home in 2019.
At the conclusion of a long-term investigation led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police into methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine trafficking in the Reading area, in September 2019, Gomez was arrested during the execution of a federal search warrant at his Reading home. Inside Gomez’s bedroom, FBI agents recovered approximately one pound of crystal methamphetamine along with an extended firearm magazine containing 26 rounds of live 9mm ammunition and a bulletproof vest. Approximately two additional pounds of crystal methamphetamine were recovered in separate bedrooms of the house, along with various drug paraphernalia and a loaded 9mm pistol in the living room.
Following forensic analysis at the FBI laboratory, Gomez’s DNA profile was identified on the pistol. Because of a prior felony conviction for drug dealing, Gomez was prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law. Five other defendants were also arrested in connection with this investigation, and over 65 pounds of methamphetamine and three additional firearms were seized in the same month.
“This defendant personally threatened the safety of his neighbors in Reading, and all communities in our District, through his dangerous and illegal actions,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “Gomez stashed drugs in his home and illegally possessed a weapon to further his drug-dealing business. Thanks to the steady, determined efforts of investigators at the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police, the defendant and his co-conspirators’ operation was permanently shut down.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Justin Ashenfelter.
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