Westside Man Deported 4 Times Gets 11 Years In Fentanyl Case: DOJ

LOS ANGELES, CA — A Mar Vista man who had previously been deported from the U.S. four times was sentenced Friday to more than 11 years in federal prison for selling thousands of fentanyl pills while also dealing firearms and ammunition, federal prosecutors said.

Antonio Espinoza Zarate, 56, also known as "El Gato," of the Mar Vista area, was sentenced to 135 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Espinoza pleaded guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl. He has been in federal custody since March 2025, prosecutors said.

In July 2023, Espinoza sold a buyer 4,592 fentanyl pills weighing 527 grams for $4,500 in Los Angeles. He also sold the buyer a Glock pistol and 131 rounds of ammunition for $1,700, prosecutors said.

The following month, Espinoza sold another buyer 9,826 pills containing slightly more than 1 kilogram of fentanyl for $8,000. He also sold that buyer a rifle for $2,000, prosecutors said.

Espinoza, a Mexican national, was previously removed from the United States in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2017, according to prosecutors.