PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Portland man has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Thursday after he was arrested for transporting meth, cocaine, heroin and counterfeit oxycodone pills with fentanyl known as “blues” in 2021.
On July 12, 2021, the Bend Police Department arrested Jason Robert Melcado, now 51, as he had been traveling to Redmond. Authorities previously received information that Melcado had been delivering meth and heroin to Deschutes County the month before.
According to court documents, Melcado was at a bar when Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team arrested him. He had been carrying a loaded 9mm pistol “with an obliterated serial number” and about 12 “counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl” at the time.
The next day, authorities searched Melcado’s car and discovered 217 grams of meth, nearly 1,000 counterfeit pills as well as heroin and cocaine.
Bend police had previously learned that Melcado not only had an active felony arrest warrant but also had been investigated by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
A federal grand jury in Eugene returned an indictment on Aug. 19, 2021, charging Melcado with:
- Possessing with intent to distribute methamphetamine
- Possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
- Illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon
Melcado pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute meth on Nov. 22, 2022, and has been sentenced to 120 months in federal prison and four years of supervised release as of Thursday.
