| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 4, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN |
SAN FRANCISCO– United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that David NIEVES pleaded guilty today to possession with intent to distribute over half a kilogram of cocaine.
In pleading guilty, Mr. NIEVES admitted that in the early evening of May 27, 2008, he led police officers on a high-speed car chase through residential areas of Santa Rosa, reaching speeds as high as 70 miles per hour, running at least one red light, and nearly colliding with several cars that he passed. Mr. NIEVES admitted that during the course of the chase, he threw from his car a black drawstring bag that contained over ½ a kilogram of cocaine, packaged into 27 small plastic baggies for distribution.
Mr. NIEVES, age 43, of Rohnert Park, was charged in an information filed on September 2, 2008, with one count of possessing more than 500 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1). Mr. NIEVES was also charged with violating the terms of supervised release that he was serving under at the time of the chase as part of an earlier drug conviction, which required him not to commit any further federal, state, or local crimes. Mr. NIEVES pleaded guilty to both charges pursuant to a plea agreement, in which he agreed that a 15 year jail sentence would be a reasonable and appropriate punishment.
The sentencing of Mr. NIEVES is scheduled for October 15, 2008 before Judge Charles R. Breyer in San Francisco. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison, with a minimum mandatory 10 years in jail, along with a maximum $4,000,000 fine. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
S. Waqar Hasib is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Amelia Morgan. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Santa Rosa Police Department, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Further Information:
Case #s: 08-0587-CRB, 99-0061-CRB
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