A Superior Court jury has convicted 32-year-old Firebaugh resident Manuel Miranda of two felony counts for trafficking methamphetamine in Madera.
According to District Attorney Michael R. Keitz, Miranda was charged with conspiring to sell methamphetamine and possession of it for sale, transportation of more than one kilogram, and an additional misdemeanor count for possession of a vehicle with a false compartment.
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Mary Thornton introduced evidence that the Madera County Narcotics Enforcement Team and the California Department of Justice Bureau of Investigation received a tip that Miranda was involved in narcotics trafficking.
On Nov. 3rd, 2011, they started watching Miranda in Firebaugh, and followed him to Bakersfield. When he was there, he picked up a car with a false compartment and 7 1⁄2 pounds of methamphetamine and drove it to Madera. The officers then obtained search warrants and recovered the meth, $7,500 in cash and a scale used to weigh drugs...