PRINCETON – A woman who used her teenage daughter to sell methamphetamine to a confidential informant working with law enforcement last year in Princeton has been sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison. Last week, US District Judge James C. Dever III sentenced 42 year-old Ana Duarte-Pineda of Goldsboro to 262 months in federal prison followed by 5 years of supervised release.
On two occasions in July 2019, Duarante-Pineda and her husband, Agustin Gomez-Rojas, 44, of Goldsboro drove to the Princeton area in Johnston County with their 15 year-old daughter in the car. After arriving at the undisclosed meeting place, the couple used the teen to sell 9 ounces of crystal meth to undercover agents for $25,200. Each time the minor was used to sell the drugs then take and conceal the money.
Duarte-Pineda was named in a federal indictment in March 2020 and pled guilty to a charge of distributing methamphetamine on December 21, 2020. Gomez-Rojas had previously been sentenced to 300 months for distributing crystal meth.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, Raleigh Police Department and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant United States Attorney Kelly L. Sandling represented the government.
