Former Vancouver man sentenced in federal drug case

A former Vancouver man was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 11 years in federal prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute large quantities of heroin in Portland and Vancouver, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced.

In addition to the 130-month sentence, Christian Zepeda-Quezada, 32, will serve five years of supervised release, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Zepeda-Quezada, also known as Miguel Agredano, has several prior drug trafficking convictions, the news release states.

According to court documents, Zepeda-Quezada was a heroin dispatcher who used multiple drug dealers to distribute the heroin. He took heroin orders from customers by phone and arranged for dealers to hand-deliver the orders.

Between January 2019 and August 2019, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Clark Vancouver Regional Drug Task Force made multiple controlled purchases of heroin from Zepeda-Quezada’s network. They then obtained a search warrant for his Vancouver residence and other locations, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Agents seized distribution quantities of heroin and cocaine Aug. 7, 2019, from Zepeda-Quezada’s residence. He was arrested during the search and held pending trial, according to the news release.

A federal grand jury in Portland returned a five-count indictment on Aug. 6, 2019, charging Zepeda-Quezada and two others — Javier Perez-Alejandre, 22, a California resident, and Angel Umanzor-Ardon, 21, of Portland — with conspiracy to distribute heroin and distribution of heroin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Zepeda-Quezada pleaded guilty June 2 to conspiracy to distribute heroin.

Umanzor-Ardon pleaded guilty Oct. 20, 2020, to conspiracy to distribute heroin and, on April 28, he was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release.

Perez-Alejandre remains in custody pending a jury trial scheduled to begin Oct. 18.