SAN ANTONIO – A federal judge in San Antonio on Tuesday sentenced a 35-year-old man to 15 years in prison for supplying heroin for distribution throughout San Antonio, officials said.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery also ordered Joe Anthony Ramirez to be placed on supervised release for 10 years after completing his prison term.
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Ramirez pleaded guilty in August 2019 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute one kilogram or more of heroin. By pleading guilty, Ramirez admitted that he supplied heroin to his drug trafficking organization and one led by Andrew Sanchez, federal officials said.
From May 2018 to March 2019, Sanchez’s drug trafficking organization was responsible for the distribution of heroin on the East Side of San Antonio, federal officials said. The organization operated daily from about 8 a.m. until 2 a.m. as a full-scale delivery service for heroin to the street-level user, federal officials said.
The organization members worked shifts in the various roles, including Ramirez’s father and brother, who distributed heroin and cocaine throughout the entire San Antonio area.
In November 2019, Biery sentenced Sanchez to 15 years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release.
To date, 12 individuals associated with the organizations Ramirez supplied have been convicted and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 41 months to 180 months, federal officials said.