Stockton man sentenced to over 15 years in prison for methamphetamine and heroin trafficking

Date: Sept. 8, 2025

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Charles Billingsley Jr. of Stockton was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William B. Shubb to 15 years and eight months in prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents, between March and December 2019, Billingsley conspired with other members of a Stockton-based drug trafficking organization to distribute methamphetamine and heroin. Billingsley regularly obtained and distributed methamphetamine and heroin on behalf of the organization. On Dec. 5, 2019, law enforcement officers searched Billingsley's two adjacent residences in Stockton and seized more than 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 30 ounces of heroin, six ounces of cocaine, four loaded firearms, and more than $33,000 in cash. Agents also eradicated 451 marijuana plants that Billingsley was growing in one of the residences and seized more than 52 pounds of processed marijuana.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, the California Highway Patrol, and the San Joaquin County Metropolitan Narcotics Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney David W. Spencer prosecuted the case.

This case was investigated and prosecuted by the California Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) as part of Operation Take Back America. HSTFs, which were established by President Trump in Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, are joint operations led by the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. Operation Take Back America is a nationwide federal initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.