7 Indicted In South Lake Tahoe Drug Trafficking Operation

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Seven defendants, all from South Lake Tahoe and Sacramento, were charged in two separate indictments related to a drug trafficking operation that spanned nearly two years, prosecutors said Friday.

The defendants were:

Wendy Labuda, 64, of South Lake Tahoe
Epifanio Ramirez, 47, of South Lake Tahoe
Sarah Anderson, 32, of South Lake Tahoe
Fabian Gomez, 33, of South Lake Tahoe
Joaleen Rogers, 53, of South Lake Tahoe
Robert Choate, 38, of South Lake Tahoe
William Owen, 47, of Sacramento

All but Choate were charged in one indictment with counts, including distribution of meth and heroin, specific to each person, U.S. Attorney Philip A. Talbert announced. Choate was charged in a separate indictment with distribution of methamphetamine and heroin, as part of the same investigation.

Between August 2020 and May 2022, all seven individuals sold methamphetamine and heroin in and around the South Lake Tahoe region, prosecutors said. Some of the people they sold the drugs to were confidential informants.

Additionally, investigators learned that some of the drug supply had come from Sacramento.

Prosecutors said four other defendants were charged last August as part of the same operation.