Ochoa

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Overview Defendant was a middleman and “stash house operator” in a methamphetamine distribution operation. He received large quantities of methamphetamine from Rudy “Gallo” Mendez and Jesus “Silent” Venegas, who procured the methamphetamine from México. Defendant stored the methamphetamine on his property and sold it to members of Nuestra Familia, a criminal street gang operating in Santa Clara County and nearby areas. Defendant’s primary customer was Lorenzo “Lencho” Guzman, the commander of a Nuestra Familia street regiment in San José. Defendant also supplied methamphetamine to at least two other regiment commanders and other members of Nuestra Familia. The prosecution charged defendant in two separate cases alleging two different conspiracies. First, in 2008, the prosecution charged defendant in a 12-defendant complaint including Mendez, Venegas, and others, but not including members of Nuestra Familia. We will refer to this case (Santa Clara County Superior Court Docket 2 No. CC805059) as the “Mendez-Venegas prosecution.” Defendant pleaded no contest to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and other charges, and the trial court…