California Man Sentenced to Ten Years for Heroin Trafficking Conviction

ALBUQUEQUE – Louie Villegas, 49, of Palm Springs, Calif., was sentenced this afternoon to ten years in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his heroin trafficking conviction.

Villegas was arrested on April 18, 2013, at the Greyhound Bus Station in Albuquerque, N.M., after DEA agents found more than a kilogram of heroin concealed in inside the inner soles of his tennis shoes.  He subsequently was indicted and charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute.

Villegas entered a guilty plea to the indictment on Aug. 5, 2013.  Villegas admitted that, while at the Greyhound bus station in Albuquerque on April 18, 2013, he had a consensual encounter with DEA agents and gave the agents permission to search him and his shoes for contraband.  When Villegas handed his left shoe to the agents, it was abnormally heavy.  Inside the inner sole of both shoes, the agents found approximately 1.3 kilograms of heroin.

This case was investigated by the Interdiction Unit of the Albuquerque office of the DEA and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn W.Y. Wang.