San Joaquin County woman sentenced to 8 years in prison for her role in trafficking 130 pounds of methamphetamine

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Ong Thao, 37, of Lodi, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to eight years in prison for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, between July 2022 and November 2024, Thao conspired to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin to customers in Sacramento, Placer, San Joaquin, Butte, Shasta, and Siskiyou Counties. She also participated in the sale of nine ounces of 77% pure fentanyl, which the conspirators referred to as "death angel" fentanyl, to an undercover agent. At the time of her arrest, she possessed approximately 130 pounds of methamphetamine.

The Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cameron L. Desmond and Nicole Vanek prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Sacramento is composed of agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Northern California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California.