HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Ricky James Jr. Salas Santos started drinking alcohol at the age of 15 before he added marijuana and ultimately methamphetamine to his substance abuse addiction.
“I just want to say sorry to the people of Guam and to my family,” said Santos during his sentencing hearing before District Court of Guam Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood on Monday.
The 33-year-old, who admitted to his part in a federal case that involved 3 pounds of meth, was sentenced to serve 51 months in a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
Santos was hoping for leniency and a lesser sentence, but the chief judge noted he disobeyed the court’s order and used drugs at least twice while on pretrial release.
Santos said he is ready to turn his life around by getting help for his drug addiction, along with getting his GED.
“Why should I believe that you want to get your life in order?” Judge Tydingco-Gatewood asked.
“Just the experience of what I’ve gone through and the time I have been locked up made me realize that I want to change,” Santos replied. “I know it wasn’t right. I will not do it again.”
He will be placed on five years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.
Santos pleaded guilty to attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine hydrochloride.
In August 2020, Santos was indicted after federal investigators seized drugs in a mail package and in a dog food bag at a Yigo home.
Santos then said he knew nothing about the package.
During a search at the home, agents discovered 1,191 grams, or about 2.6 pounds, of meth concealed in a bag of Cesar dog food.
It was said in court that Santos has a conviction in local court for a 2014 aggravated assault case, along with a warrant for his arrest in Nevada for a misdemeanor.
Ricky James Jr. Salas Santos
