Member of Indianapolis Cocaine Distribution Network
Sentenced to 293 Months

OCT 20 -- (Indianapolis) Cruz Alonzo Saenz, 43, El Paso, Texas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker to 293 months (24 years and five months) in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, announced that Saenz was sentenced on October 14, 2009, after being found guilty in a federal trial. The case was the result of a year-long investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

According to trial testimony, Saenz was part of an Indianapolis-based cocaine trafficking cell headed by Manuel Mascorro-Guerrero. Mascorro-Guerrero obtained cocaine from Jesus Manuel Fierro-Mendez, a resident of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and a Commandante in the Juarez, Mexico police force. Fierro-Mendez utilized individuals to smuggle cocaine from Ciudad Juarez on the Mexico side of the border to El Paso, Texas. Truck drivers in El Paso then transported the cocaine loads from El Paso to Indianapolis, collected the proceeds of the cocaine sales in Indianapolis, and transported the proceeds back to El Paso. Saenz was one of the truck drivers who transported cocaine proceeds from Indianapolis to El Paso. It was further established that from late 2006 through August 29, 2007, the Fierro-Mendez organization transported approximately fifty kilograms (110 pounds) of cocaine per week from Ciudad Juarez, through El Paso, with the ultimate destination to Mascorro-Guerrero in Indianapolis. Mascarro-Guerrero was sentenced on June 4, 2009 to 12 years in prison. Fierro-Mendea is scheduled to be sentenced on November 23, 2009.

"This investigation is a fine example of DEA’s determination to identify and target those individuals responsible for distributing illegal drugs in American cities, while also tirelessly working to dismantle organizations that import illegal drugs into the United States and transport them throughout the country," stated Stephen A. Luzinski, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Chicago Field Division, which covers the state of Indiana. "We will target all aspects of these illegal drug trafficking organizations, including those who assist the organization by transporting illegal drug proceeds."

According to Assistant United States Attorney Bradley A. Blackington, who prosecuted the case for the government, Saenz was also sentenced to ten years of supervised release to follow his release from prison.