The leader of a drug trafficking organization that distributed cocaine and methamphetamine to buyers in Tulsa was sentenced Friday in federal court.
“Serial drug distributor Moises Gaeta will serve more than 11 years in federal prison for distributing pounds of methamphetamine in Tulsa,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “Distributors like Gaeta have little regard for the lives lost to addiction and violence resulting from their criminal operations. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to investigate, disrupt, and prosecute criminal networks who pose a threat to communities in the Northern District of Oklahoma.”
U.S. District Judge Gregory K. Frizzell sentenced Moises Gaeta, 38, of Tulsa, to 136 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Gaeta previously pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy. Gaeta admitted that beginning as early as January 2019 and continuing through August 2020, he knowingly conspired with others to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 28 grams or more of cocaine. Gaeta supplied and distributed the drugs to third parties.
Along with Gaeta, codefendants Jose Alfredo Rivas, Jose Luis Loya-Saenz, Rhonda Sanders and Amanda Marie Wells all pleaded guilty for their roles in the distribution ring. Rivas was sentenced to 84 months in prison; Loya-Saenz received 70 months in prison; Sanders received 27 months in prison; and Wells received three years of probation.
This case was prosecuted as part of Operation Gopher Broke, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn McCormick and the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office. 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 https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
In 2009, Gaeta was sentenced in a separate case to 324 months in federal prison for distributing narcotics and firearms. In 2018, Gaeta filed for and was granted a motion for early release from prison. Upon his release in September 2018, Gaeta returned to Tulsa, established contact with former criminal associates and began distributing methamphetamine.
The FBI and Tulsa Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel-lyn McCormick prosecuted the case.