A man linked to the San Diego Chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang was sentenced to 21 years in prison Monday for locally trafficking methamphetamine.
According to the office of U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy, 43-year-old David Raymond Garcia will serve 262 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute meth.
A U.S. District judge has also sentenced local methamphetamine supplier Jason Scalon, 42, to 15 years in prison.
Officials say the two defendants were prosecuted as part of a FBI Violent Crimes Task Force investigation that included a total of 36 defendants being charged with conspiracy to traffic meth.
According to investigators, Garcia supplied drugs and employed at least 20 co-defendants over the course of a Task Force investigation into methamphetamine trafficking and violent crimes committed by the San Diego Chapter of the Hells Angels and their criminal partners. Scalon employed four co-defendants himself during this time, too.
Court documents show that Garcia – along with another defendant, Michael Ottinger Jr., who’s the Sergeant-at-Arms for the Hells Angels – used violent force and intimidation to control the meth trade in San Diego.
Officials say Ottinger Jr. has also been sentenced to serve 262 months in prison for his role in this conspiracy to traffic drugs. He also faces murder charges in connection with the alleged 2010 killing of rival member of the Mongols motorcycle gang.
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A U.S. District judge found both Garcia and Scalon to be career federal offenders.
Officials say this is Garcia’s ninth felony conviction. Eight of the nine felonies on his criminal record are drug felonies. Meanwhile, Scalon has 10 felony convictions, eight of which are drug-related.
“Individuals involved in the drug trade not only proliferate the spread of dangerous narcotics in our society, but they also destabilize our communities with violence and related criminal activities," said U.S. attorney Duffy in a statement Monday. "Our federal, state and local law enforcement partners on the Task Force have done the San Diego community a great service by taking these dangerous offenders off the street.”
