Bay Area woman who ran illegal drug delivery service gets over 4 years in prison
A Bay Area woman who was convicted for running an on-demand delivery service for controlled substances has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of California announced that a judge sentenced 31-year-old Natalie Gonzalez of Oakland to 50 months in prison on Friday.
Gonzalez was indicted in Oct. 2023 along with three co-defendants. She pleaded guilty in September on one count of conspiracy to distribute a mixture and substance containing methamphetamine.
According to the plea agreement, Gonzalez admitted to running the service called "The Shop", which supplied illegal drugs to customers throughout the Bay Area.
Prosecutors said The Shop had a menu of drugs for sale and required a "$300 minimum for postal shipments and Bay Area delivery." Gonzalez paid delivery drivers, including her co-defendants, to deliver drugs to customers, who would use the encrypted messaging app Signal to place orders.
During the investigation, Gonzalez messaged an undercover agent saying her customers consisted of "a lot of students and young professionals."
Gonzalez sold methamphetamine to the agent multiple times, which were delivered by the service's drivers. Prosecutors said she also provided the agent multiple Bitcoin addresses to pay for drugs.
In their statement, prosecutors noted a July 2023 sale to the agent in which Gonzalez messaged the agent on where to meet a driver. Gonzalez said, "Please meet him at the car (white Subaru Forester) with exact change and either: – Hop in for a short 'Uber' ride around the block – Get your order through the window like Door Dash – Or play with the pup outside the car to cover up a casual swap :)."
Authorities arrested Gonzalez after executing a search warrant at the group's house in Menlo Park in Sep. 2023. Agents seized nearly one kilogram of fentanyl and seven kilograms of cocaine, along with orange fake Adderall pills containing methamphetamine, and ketamine.
Along with the prison term, prosecutors said the judge also sentenced Gonzalez to three years of supervised release.
