OAKLAND — A Martinez resident has been charged with drug trafficking, two years after a Contra Costa sheriff's deputy searched his automotive and located five kilos of methamphetamine and a pair of,000 pills of fentanyl, court records show.
Kory Kingsley, 51, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of possession of methamphetamine and fentanyl for resale. The former count carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. Prosecutors also sought to seize about $3,100 in money and a handgun that were allegedly present in his possession, the indictment states.
Kingsley stays in federal custody for now. At a court hearing on July 9, Judge Donna Ryu said she was willing to release him to a halfway house in San Francisco as soon as a bed becomes available there, based on a transcript of the hearing. He is due back in court next month.
According to court records, Kingsley was the topic of a Contra Costa Sheriff's investigation in 2022 after a confidential informant accused him of being a drug dealer. Investigators placed a tracking device on his Chevrolet and followed him on May 25, 2022, as he drove through Pleasant Hill, Pacheco and other locations conducting alleged drug deals.
An officer eventually stopped the Chevrolet and searched it after a Pittsburg police sniffer dog “alerted” the presence of medication within the vehicle, police said. Inside, officers found a 5.5-pound bag of methamphetamine, 4.3 ounces of heroin, 100 ecstasy pills and a pair of,000 pills of fentanyl, based on court documents.
Meanwhile, at Kingley's Jordan Court home, police arrested a lady on suspicion of attempted destruction of evidence and drug possession when she began loading a vehicle with various items from the house. Cocaine, marijuana, fentanyl, a suspected meth pipe and $3,820 in money were later present in the automotive. The woman refused to talk with police, and she or he was released without charges, authorities said.
A loaded firearm and ammunition were present in a protected in the home, authorities said.
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