Arizona restaurant owner sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison for drugs, weapons

PHOENIX – An Arizona restaurant owner was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison for drug trafficking and other offenses, authorities announced Tuesday.

Jason Felipe Gutierrez-Sandoval, 29, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, cocaine and heroin, as well as possession of firearms by a prohibited person, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona.

Gutierrez-Sandoval, who owned and operated a Tucson restaurant, was arrested after delivering over 4,600 fentanyl pills to an agent of a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization in 2023, prosecutors said.

Investigators served a search warrant at his home and found 10.35 grams of a pinkish-colored form of cocaine known as “lavada” in 12 small baggies and half a kilogram of heroin.

They also confiscated a collection of guns, some of which were loaded, along with ammunition and magazines. Gutierrez-Sandoval is prohibited from possessing firearms, prosecutors said.

Details of Arizona restaurant owner’s sentencing

At a hearing last week, a federal judge sentenced Gutierrez-Sandoval to 46 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release.

Gutierrez-Sandoval also was ordered to pay a judgment of $2,500, the amount he received for the 2023 fentanyl transaction.

Federal and local authorities — including Homeland Security Investigations, the Tucson Police Department and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department — conducted the investigation into the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael R. Lizano.

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