"Major Drug Dealer Given Probation" 























07.09.2026 "Press Release" - Butte County District Attorney's Office
 

A drug dealer, described by narcotics officers as selling millions
of dollars’ worth of Mexican cartel cocaine in the Chico area for the past three years, was placed on probation yesterday by a Butte County Superior Court judge despite the strong objection of the Butte County District Attorney’s Office.

Jordan Cotton, 27, of Chico, pleaded no contest last month to possessing one and a half kilograms (3.5 pounds) of cocaine for sale while armed, following a March 2026 search of his residence by the Butte Interagency Narcotics Task Force (BINTF). He faced a statutorily presumptive sentence of 12 years in state prison based on the weight of the cocaine and the presence of firearms.

However, Judge Michael Deems, noting Cotton had no criminal record, followed a probation department recommendation to place Cotton on probation, citing Cotton’s candor with the department and his claimed remorse for selling drugs into the community for at least the past three years. Judge Deems suspended the 12-year prison sentence sought by the prosecution and placed Cotton on two years of felony probation. The judge ordered Cotton’s release from the Butte County Jail, where he had been held since his March 12, 2026 arrest.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey noted that BINTF had observed a significant increase in cocaine flooding into the Chico area over the past two years. After an extensive investigation, BINTF agents obtained a search warrant for Cotton’s house on the 900 block of Pomona Avenue.

During the search, agents found the three and a half pounds of cocaine in 17 packages, estimated to be worth between $50,000 and $67,000, along with $61,337 in cash and five one-ounce gold bars (worth over $20,000). Also found hidden in different rooms of the home were a .45-caliber semi-automatic Glock pistol, a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun, and an H&K AR-15-style rifle, along with loaded magazines.

BINTF agents also found 36 other empty kilogram-sized packages with cocaine residue, along with scales and hundreds of small plastic baggies. Agents recognized the “branding” on the empty packages was consistent with that used by Mexican drug cartels.

Cotton refused to speak to agents about the cocaine during the search, but agents concluded at the end of the search that Cotton was involved in a large-scale drug-selling ring. The street value of approximately 36 kilograms (79 pounds) of cocaine is between $2.1 and $3.5 million, making him one of the largest cocaine sellers Butte County had seen in recent years.
 

Cotton later told the probation officer preparing his probation report that he had moved from the Dublin area to attend Chico State to pursue a business marketing degree but dropped out during COVID, instead earning a certificate in digital marketing from UC Berkeley. He said he began selling cocaine in large quantities in the Chico area in 2023.
 

Ramsey emphasized that his office argued to the judge that probation was inappropriate for an armed, high-level drug dealer who had introduced kilogram bricks of cocaine into this community. He noted that any mitigating factors, such as Cotton’s lack of a record and remorse, did not outweigh the dangers he had wrought on this community, including not only bringing dangerous drugs into the community for consumption but also introducing myriads of ancillary dangers associated with dealing large amounts of cartel cocaine.
 

Ramsey noted that the legislative purpose of imposing high prison sentences on high-level dealers is not only to punish defendants who engage in this type of criminal activity but also to provide sufficient deterrence to people who might engage in this type of criminal activity, in hopes of stemming the tide of the oceans of illegal drugs ravaging our communities.
 

Judge Deems fined Cotton $370.
 

Ramsey said his office is seeking to forfeit the approximately $81,000 in cash and gold bars found in Cotton’s home during the BINTF search using state asset forfeiture laws. Cotton is currently contesting that effort despite telling the probation department that he had not worked, other than as a drug dealer, for the past three years.