‘Just complete darkness in my life’: Meth dealer ‘Droopy de Castroville’ sentenced to 10 years in federal prison
SAN JOSE A Monterey County man who was caught running a drug business twice in and has been sentenced to years in federal prison court records show Manuel Angel Vargas pleaded guilty to multiple methamphetamine charges as well as to selling heroin and possessing a firearm and ammunition court records show He was sentenced in June by U S District Judge Beth Labson Freeman Prosecutors say Vargas a self-admitted Norte o who went by Droopy de Castroville was caught in September with pounds of methamphetamine one pound of heroin more than in cash and a loaded firearm in his Castroville home In a subsequent July police raid government allegedly unveiled in cash about a half-pound of heroin and roughly three-quarters of a pound of methamphetamine The police also ascertained kites or handwritten notes pertaining to gang business One seized in referenced an individual by the moniker of Razor Bully selling narcotics and being supplied by the Sinaloa Cartel and refers to three people assisting in selling narcotics and the proceeds and contributions being forwarded to Droopy de Castroville ' prosecutors announced in a sentencing memorandum Vargas lawyer countered that it defies reason the well-organized Norte o gang would trust a full-blown addict like Vargas to sell drugs for them and that Vargas maintains his supplier wasn t part of any gang Mr Vargas s past gang affiliation was merely incidental to his offense and it is incorrect to link the two for sentencing purposes assistant federal residents defender Varrell Fuller wrote in a sentencing memo Vargas himself authored an apology letter attached along with numerous certificates and promotion letters calling his arrests from years ago a turning point in his life For years he wrote he was stuck in a rut unmoved and detached from the world My addiction and street life engulfed me with shame and guilt it brought nothing but negativity failures one bad choice after another and just complete darkness in my life Vargas wrote He later added By the grace of God my arrest was his answer to the prayers of my family As challenging as it was to accept in the beginning being arrested was a life-changing blessing for me Nowadays I submit myself before you a changed man
