LOS ANGELES – A four-times deported illegal alien from Mexico was sentenced today to 135 months in prison for knowingly selling more than pound quantities of fentanyl pills to a buyer to whom he also sold firearms and ammunition.
Antonio Espinoza Zarate, 56, a.k.a. “El Gato,” of the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Wesley L. Hsu. Espinoza pleaded guilty on May 7 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. He has been in federal custody since March 2025.
According to his plea agreement, from July 2023 to March 2025, Espinoza conspired with others to knowingly distribute fentanyl by obtaining distribution-level quantities of the powerful synthetic opioid to sell to potential drug customers.
Specifically, in July 2023, Espinoza obtained 4,592 pills (527 grams) of fentanyl, which he sold to a buyer in Los Angeles for $4,500. Espinoza also sold the buyer $1,700 in firearms and ammunition, including a Glock pistol and 131 rounds of ammunition.
In August 2023, Espinoza met with another buyer in Los Angeles and, for $8,000, sold the buyer 9,826 pills containing slightly more than 1 kilogram of fentanyl. Espinoza also sold the buyer a rifle for $2,000.
Espinoza, a Mexican national, was removed from the United States in 2010, 2013, 2014, and 2017, according to court documents. The investigation was conducted by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)-led El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force, a multi-agency task force that includes federal and state investigators who are focused on financial crimes in Southern California, with support from special agents with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California – Criminal Investigative Division; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department regarding dangers to the community from the sales of narcotics and firearms.
Assistant United States Attorney Neil P. Thakor of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section prosecuted this case.