Alleged San Jose Norteño sentenced to 7 years for meth trafficking
OAKLAND — An alleged South Bay gang member who survived being shot in the spine has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison for involvement in a two-pound methamphetamine deal to benefit the Norteño gang, court records show.
Ramiro Velasco Jr. aka “Rome,” pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and was sentenced in mid-May by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. After his prison term he will be required to spend four years on supervised release, court records show.
Velasco, 33, was arrested in September 2021 amid a massive federal law enforcement operation aimed at the Norteño gang and its incarcerated leaders within the Nuestra Familia prison gang. Prosecutors allege that he and co-defendant Derek Brian Williams aka “Baby D” arranged to sell two pounds of methamphetamine to a confidential informant, for $3,200.
In a letter to the court, Velasco apologized and blamed his lifelong drug addiction.
“I am very disappointed in myself and I feel like an embarrassment not only to myself, but to my family, my community, and all those who know me,” Velasco wrote. “I’ve battled with addiction for a very long time but failed to recognize that I truly was one.”
Court records show that Velasco has a pending gun possession case in Santa Clara County, and has served time in state prison for cocaine sales and gun possession. In his mid-20s, he survived being shot, but the bullet was permanently lodged in his spine, prosecutors say.
Velasco gets credit for the nearly two years he’s spent in jail while the case was pending.