Three Southern Oregon Drug Traffickers Plead Guilty in Federal Court

In a significant development in the fight against drug trafficking in Southern Oregon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced today that three individuals have pleaded guilty in federal court. These guilty pleas come after extensive investigations by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Medford resident office. Defendants include the head of a Klamath Falls drug trafficking organization.

Juan Jessie Martinez-Gil, 59, a former resident of Reno, Nevada, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl. Candice Nadine Mckee, 31, a distributor in Martinez-Gil’s network and resident of Lakeview, Oregon, pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl. In a separate criminal case, Jessie Cole Merkel, 31, of Redding, California, pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl.

The case of U.S. v. Martinez-Gil et al. revealed that between August 2019 and September 2021, Martinez-Gil, the head of a Klamath Falls area drug trafficking organization, conspired with various associates to possess and distribute significant quantities of methamphetamine and fentanyl in and around Klamath Falls. A coordinated law enforcement operation in September 2021 led to their arrests, resulting in the seizure of approximately 17 pounds of methamphetamine and 700 counterfeit Oxycodone pills. Martinez-Gil and Mckee will be sentenced on February 22, 2024.

In the case of U.S. v. Merkel, court documents showed that between February and April 2022, Merkel, a known northern California drug dealer, was responsible for trafficking fentanyl from California to Oregon. He sold fentanyl to undercover law enforcement officers on two separate occasions, leading to his arrest while traveling from California to Oregon on April 14, 2022. Merkel faces sentencing on February 22, 2024.

These cases were investigated by the DEA Medford Resident Office with assistance from various law enforcement agencies. Martinez-Gil’s case received support from the Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET), while Merkel’s case was aided by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Oregon State Police, and the Central Point Police Department.

Both cases were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon, marking a significant step in the fight against drug trafficking in the region.