FRESNO, Calif. – A Shafter man remained in federal custody Wednesday after drug enforcement agents say they caught him with 38 kilograms of cocaine and confiscated $3.1 million dollars from a home west of Bakersfield.
Jimmy Gil, 34, faces up to 20 years in prison if he's convicted of federal drug distribution charges.
A magistrate ordered Gil released on a $270,000 bond during an Aug. 21 hearing. He remains in custody while prosecutors attempt to appeal the decision.
"Gil is one of the largest cocaine traffickers and money handlers this Court has seen," Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar wrote in a motion, petitioning the court to keep Gil in custody.
"This case is by no means a run of the mill drug prosecution for this district. The case involves one of the largest cocaine seizures in recent history in the southern portion of this district," she wrote.
On Aug. 19, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents say they tracked a truck hauling a trailer with a secret compartment containing 38 kilograms of cocaine.
The agents tracked the trailer as it crossed the Otay Mesa border from Mexico and traveled into Bakersfield.
Gil took control of the tractor trailer and drove it to a trucking company at Union Avenue and Buena Vista Road where authorities say Gil and a co-conspirator began unloading the bricks of cocaine into a truck. They were taken into custody.
The investigation led authorities to a home west of Bakersfield where agents uncovered $3.1 million in cash, shrink-wrapped into 281 packages that were hidden in a piece of construction equipment on the property.
The money is suspected by agents to be from a 100 kilogram cocaine deal in Ohio, drug agents reported.
If convicted, federal prosecutors say Gil faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years. If he is found guilty of leading the drug trafficking operation, he could face 20 years in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Escobar said.
This is not the first time Gil has been found with a large sum of money.
Gil was arrested in 2012, off Interstate 5 in Irvine, with a half-million dollars in cash, prosecutors reported. Gil forfeited that money as drug proceeds after a DEA canine alerted officers to the currency and did did not claim interest in the cash.
Gil arrived in the United States from Mexico at age 7. He is a naturalized citizen.
As part of their bid to keep Gil in custody prosecutors argue Gil has been unemployed since June and receives unemployment benefits.
According to prosecutors, Gil poses a flight risk because he has no cash in the bank, but has crossed the Mexico border 26 times since 2012.
The hearing date for the bond revocation has not yet been set. Gil is set to appear in U.S. District Court in Fresno on Sept. 8 for a preliminary examination.
Gil's attorney, Nicholas Reyes, has not returned a call for comment.
Jimmy Gil, 34, faces up to 20 years in prison if he's convicted of federal drug distribution charges.
A magistrate ordered Gil released on a $270,000 bond during an Aug. 21 hearing. He remains in custody while prosecutors attempt to appeal the decision.
"Gil is one of the largest cocaine traffickers and money handlers this Court has seen," Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Escobar wrote in a motion, petitioning the court to keep Gil in custody.
"This case is by no means a run of the mill drug prosecution for this district. The case involves one of the largest cocaine seizures in recent history in the southern portion of this district," she wrote.
On Aug. 19, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents say they tracked a truck hauling a trailer with a secret compartment containing 38 kilograms of cocaine.
The agents tracked the trailer as it crossed the Otay Mesa border from Mexico and traveled into Bakersfield.
Gil took control of the tractor trailer and drove it to a trucking company at Union Avenue and Buena Vista Road where authorities say Gil and a co-conspirator began unloading the bricks of cocaine into a truck. They were taken into custody.
The investigation led authorities to a home west of Bakersfield where agents uncovered $3.1 million in cash, shrink-wrapped into 281 packages that were hidden in a piece of construction equipment on the property.
The money is suspected by agents to be from a 100 kilogram cocaine deal in Ohio, drug agents reported.
If convicted, federal prosecutors say Gil faces a mandatory minimum prison term of 10 years. If he is found guilty of leading the drug trafficking operation, he could face 20 years in prison, Assistant U.S. Attorney Escobar said.
This is not the first time Gil has been found with a large sum of money.
Gil was arrested in 2012, off Interstate 5 in Irvine, with a half-million dollars in cash, prosecutors reported. Gil forfeited that money as drug proceeds after a DEA canine alerted officers to the currency and did did not claim interest in the cash.
Gil arrived in the United States from Mexico at age 7. He is a naturalized citizen.
As part of their bid to keep Gil in custody prosecutors argue Gil has been unemployed since June and receives unemployment benefits.
According to prosecutors, Gil poses a flight risk because he has no cash in the bank, but has crossed the Mexico border 26 times since 2012.
The hearing date for the bond revocation has not yet been set. Gil is set to appear in U.S. District Court in Fresno on Sept. 8 for a preliminary examination.
Gil's attorney, Nicholas Reyes, has not returned a call for comment.