TRUCK DRIVER SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE 57 KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE

PHOENIX, Ariz. – On April 9, 2012, Jose Rosendo Segundo-Orellana, 51, of Los Angeles, Calif. was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Frederick J. Martone to 10 years in prison. Segundo-Orellana was found guilty by a federal jury on Sept. 13, 2011 of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.

                 Evidence introduced at trial showed that, on Sept. 25, 2010, Segundo-Orellana drove a semi-tractor trailer to a border-patrol checkpoint on Highway 95 between Yuma and Quartzite, Ariz. The truck was referred to secondary inspection where Border Patrol agents found 57 kilograms of cocaine hidden within bundles of lumber inside of the trailer. When asked, Segundo-Orellana was unable to provide a bill of lading or a delivery address and provided inconsistent answers regarding his employment. Both Segundo-Orellana and the passenger in the truck (co-defendant Sigifredo Gutierrez-Garcia) denied any knowledge of the cocaine. Gutierrez-Garcia, however, subsequently pleaded guilty to the offense. According to the Border Patrol agents involved in the investigation, this seizure had an estimated wholesale value of $1.3 million.

The investigation leading to the guilty verdict and sentence was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Border Patrol with assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations. The trial attorneys for the United States were Mark Kokanovich and James Morse Jr., Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-10-01428-PHX-FJM
RELEASE NUMBER:   2012-090(Segundo-Orellana)

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/