Mike’s Market in Mountain View. (File photo courtesy of Google Street View)
The last of more than 20 people tied to a Mountain View grocery store drug and fraud scheme has been sentenced, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Law enforcement officials said Mike’s Market on Ocean View Boulevard became a local gang’s base of operations for narcotics sales, leading to criminal convictions and sentences for 22 people.
Police and prosecutors said employees worked directly with gang members to facilitate drug sales, which were funded through more than $2 million in food assistance benefit fraud at the store.
Employees allowed customers to unlawfully use their EBT cards to receive cash, then spend it on drugs, prosecutors said. Gang members both provided the drugs and vetted which customers would be allowed to engage in the fraud.
As he market became a hub for drug sales, prosecutors said, murders, assaults and robberies rose sharply nearby in the two years prior to the criminal investigation. There were four homicides and 1,000 calls to the police from the area, including 160 calls for possible violent crimes.
The joint SDPD and FBI investigation, dubbed Operation Mic Drop, resulted in a 221-count grand jury indictment returned in 2022. The District Attorney’s Office said that in the three years since, there have been no homicides or robberies in the area, as well as a 75% decrease annually in calls for service and a 50% decrease in arrests.
The case resulted in convictions for drug, gun and fraud offenses, and sentences ranging from 15 years in prison to probation. There is also a court order for $2 million in restitution.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement, “This prosecution demonstrates how law enforcement strategically identifies and effectively responds to public safety threats and holds organized gangs accountable for large-scale fraud, and illegal drug and gun trafficking.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
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