Judge spares 2 couriers in Stanford grad's drug delivery service

Nate Gartrell, The Mercury News on Mar 26, 2026

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SAN FRANCISCO — Two men who worked as couriers for an illicit delivery service the sold methamphetamine, ketamine and cocaine in the same style as Door Dash or Instacart were given sentenced that did not include any prison time, court records show.

U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley sentenced Matthew Sestak and Rory Rickey to time served, allowing them to serve three-year terms of supervised release and avoid incarceration altogether. The two men were linked to an illicit drug business known simply as “The Shop,” which was founded by a Stanford graduate in the early 2020s. The group believed they were doing a public service by offering safe drugs to a client base that included upper class Sillicon Valley professionals and young college students, even though one of their most popular products was fake Adderall laced with methamphetamine, according to prosecutors.

The Shop charged clients a $300 minimum and offered perks like “puppy time” during deliveries, which were typically paid for with cryptocurrency. An undercover agent began buying from the group, meeting couriers in publicly places, like one August 2023 incident at a Target parking lot in East Palo Alto, which prosecutors detailed in court.

“During the vehicle meeting—which was recorded by the Drug Enforcement Administration —Rickey gave the undercover agent a paper bag that had four clear plastic bags containing roughly 4,000 orange pills with markings… consistent with the appearance of prescription Adderall medication,” a prosecution sentencing memo says. “Rickey further told the (agent) that things had been hectic because customers were ordering a lot for the Burning Man festival.”

Rickey’s lawyer wrote in a sentencing brief that he graduated from UC San Diego while facing this prosecution, and was only 23 when he worked as a drug courier.

“The public does not need protection from Mr. Rickey,” the sentencing memo says. “There is nothing to suggest he’ll commit further crimes, especially now that he has finished college and received treatment for his mental health and drug dependency issues.”

Similarly, Sestak wrote in an apology letter to the court that he’s turned a corner in life, having gotten sober and found steady work at a nonprofit elementary school in San Francisco since his arrest.

“Before my arrest I was in a bad situation. I was in the Bay Area and working some but using ketamine and living out of my car,” Sestak wrote in court filings. “When I was looking to buy more ketamine, I met the people who eventually became defendants in my case. They offered me an extra room in their house so I didn’t need to live in my car.”

Since his arrest, Sestak added, he’s been appreciative for the opportunity to “start over.”

“I have a good future so long as I remain sober. Finally living a crime-free life is enjoyable,” he wrote. “No more looking over my shoulder. No worrying about losing everything when I get arrested. Peace of mind. It is priceless.”

The Shop’s founder, Natalie Gonzalez, received 50 months in federal prison and one of its operators, Frederick Gaestel, was sentenced to 48 months behind bars. Gonzalez received a B.S. degree in civil and environmental engineering and architectural design from Stanford in 2015 and wrote in an apology letter that when “I received praise and validation from people I respected…I let that reinforce my delusion that I was doing something positive.”