California Man Sentenced in Methamphetamine Conspiracy

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Jason Arias, 42, of Canyon Country, California, was sentenced on April 16, 2026, in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska, for Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine. United States District Judge Susan Bazis sentenced Arias to 63 months' imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Arias's release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.

Investigators with the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force learned that Arias was helping mail packages of methamphetamine to at least two people in Nebraska. Investigators intercepted a package that was delivered to the post office in Ulysses, Nebraska, on May 13, 2022. Through their investigation, the Task Force investigators learned that the package contained methamphetamine and that it had been shipped by Trevor Sands, Arias's co-conspirator in California. Investigators opened the package and found a half pound of methamphetamine. Investigators found a fingerprint on the package belonging to Arias. The investigation showed that Arias and Sands worked together to ship packages of methamphetamine from California to Nebraska.

Between May and September 2022, investigators intercepted three additional packages of methamphetamine mailed from California. Post office surveillance video captured Sands and Arias mailing packages from California. The Nebraska State Patrol Crime Lab confirmed the presence of methamphetamine in each of the packages, which weighed between one-quarter pound to one pound.

On February 8, 2023, investigators executed a search warrant at Sands's residence in Culver City, California. Investigators located methamphetamine in the residence. Sands admitted to distributing methamphetamine and working with others to mail packages of methamphetamine to Nebraska. Arias was also interviewed, and he admitted to helping mail packages of methamphetamine, some of which were sent to Nebraska.

Sands was sentenced on May 1, 2025 to 57 months' imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

This case was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the Los Angeles Police Department.