Incorrigible Honduran drug dealer, who won three dismissals, bail and barely a few months’ jail in San Francisco over five years of peddling narcotics, sentenced to 26 months in federal court
A Honduran illegal alien who had three drug cases dismissed by a San Francisco ‘collaborative’ court, then was caught dealing again, only to be promptly bailed, caught dealing again, only to serve four months in jail, then caught dealing again, was given a 26-month federal sentence today.
Ramon Flores Escoto, 28, sold methamphetamine to an undercover police officer at the corner of Sixth and Market late night on April 28 2025. He fled from those trying to arrest him and, during the chase, an SFPD officer fell and suffered a separated shoulder injury for which he was hospitalized.
Police found methamphetamine, fentanyl, cocaine and hundreds of dollars in cash in his bags.
“Mr Flores Escoto is not the kingpin or the manager of the operation but he does control the final mile,” said U.S. District Judge James Donato at the city’s federal courthouse, “[making] sure that the illegal and highly addictive and dangerous drugs are actually put in the hands of users.”
Escoto was on the streets having been released five months’ earlier from a 121-day jail sentence after being convicted of possession for sale of narcotics after being found with fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in the aftermath of an arrest for selling drugs to an undercover police officer.
At the time of that offense he was on bail after being arrested as part of an April 2024 SFPD sting in which he was tracked commuting from Oakland to deal drugs in San Francisco.
In his car, police found fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine.
Judge Teresa Caffese ordered him released on an ankle monitor after four days in custody.
Escoto’s other drug dealing cases – picked up after three narcotics busts in 2020 and 2021 involving various combinations of fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine – were dismissed in 2023 after his successful participation in San Francisco ‘community justice court’.
That court, until recently helmed by Judge Michael Begert, uses ‘restorative justice’ to address grave criminality in the city’s most troubled neighborhoods and has been widely derided for its gullibility.
Escoto’s attorney Ana Botello claimed that he had illegally entered the U.S. to seek a better future and only reluctantly turned to drug dealing when he fell on hard times.
She invited the court to believe that, because he went two years without being arrested, this demonstrated that he was not dealing drugs over that period and instead working in construction.
Escoto also produced a letter purportedly signed by a Honduran judge certifying that he had not been accused of any crimes in that country – a peculiar red herring given that he had been in the United States committing crimes there since 2019.
“Although he does not take for granted the many chances given to him by San Francisco County,” explained Escoto’s attorney, Ana Botello in her sentencing memorandum, “he now realizes that being in the federal system means that he is facing much more time than he has ever faces before.”
She asked the court to impose an 18-month sentence.
The court was provided with photographs of Escoto and his child, born in the U.S., and step child.
Today in courtroom 11 of San Francisco federal courthouse Escoto told the court that he was sorry for his actions.
“I would like to say that I am repentful for what I was doing,” said Escoto today via a Spanish interpreter. “I wasn’t employed. I had to pay rent and provide food for my family. Desperate, I again took the wrong way. I ask for your forgiveness for having broken U.S. law. I understand that at the federal level the punishment is higher.”
“Given the relatively low ‘criminal history category’ of two, and my willingness to take a little bit of a risk on the remorse that Mr Flores-Escoto has articulated today, and in his papers, and his relatively youthful age I will impose a sentence of 26 months in custody,” said Judge Donato, in essence splitting the difference between recommended sentences of defense and prosecution attorneys.
At the conclusion of his term, Escoto will be deported.
Last week San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto emphasized his determination to protect fentanyl traffickers like Escoto and other illegal aliens who commit further crimes.
“Sanctuary laws and our actions are critical to reassure people they are safe and law enforcement is here to protect them,” he said in a January 28 video released on social media platforms.
“I want to be very clear: we do not and will not conduct immigration enforcement, we do not ask about immigration status and we do not cooperate with ICE.”
Please support our work by using this Paypal link
To be notified of new stories enter your email address here or follow us on X
