Kauai Man Sentenced to 17.5 Years in Prison for Drug Trafficking and Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition

HONOLULU - United States Attorney Ken Sorenson announced that Francis Anthony Abergas, Jr., 52, of Kauai, was sentenced yesterday in federal court by Senior United States District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi to a total of 210 months in federal prison followed by 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a firearm and ammunition after having been previously convicted of a felony.

Abergas has been detained since his initial arrest in this case on April 10, 2024. According to court records, Abergas was part of a conspiracy that was acquiring controlled substances through the U.S. mail and was engaged in the distribution of methamphetamine on Kauai. In total, Abergas was held responsible for over 23 pounds of methamphetamine.

Abergas is one of eleven defendants charged in three separate indictments for crimes related to the operation of a trans-Pacific drug trafficking network, nine of whom have pled guilty with the remaining awaiting trial. The overall investigation yielded seizures of more than 150 pounds of methamphetamine, several kilograms of fentanyl and carfentanil, eight firearms, ammunition, and over $150,000 in cash.

Abergas is the second defendant in a nine-defendant indictment to be sentenced. On December 10, 2025, Faith Michelle Nelson was sentenced to 151 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine. On April 30, 2025, in one of the related cases charged by separate indictment, Shawn Pauahi Santana was sentenced to 240 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and to distributing methamphetamine.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Kauai, Maui, and Honolulu Police Departments, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret C. Nammar is prosecuting the case.