February 19, 2008
For more information contact:
Managing Asst. U.S. Attorney Dixie A. Morrow
(850) 444-4000
SEIZURE OF CASH, DRUGS AND GUNS CONVICTS THREE MEXICAN DEALERS
Pensacola, Florida - United States Attorney Gregory R. Miller, Northern District of Florida, announced that Armando Cardon-Cortez, also known as “Vatto,” 34, George Salmoran-Calderon, also known as “Casper,” 34, and Jorge Gomez-Montes, also known as “Rafael Hernandez,” 23, were convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine. All three defendants are citizens of the Republic of Mexico, unlawfully present in the United States of America. Cardon-Cortez alone was convicted of two charges of using a firearm during a drug trafficking offense and two charges of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. The guilty verdicts were returned the evening of February 15 following a jury trial before Senior United States District Judge Roger Vinson.
Evidence and testimony demonstrated a long standing conspiracy between the men that existed in the Fort Walton Beach, Niceville, and Destin areas of Northwest Florida. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) combined investigative resources to secure the seizure of approximately $250,000 in cash, approximately 8 pounds of cocaine, and five firearms. The money was found bundled in $10,000 increments along with a U.S. Currency counting machine in an apartment in Niceville occupied by two of the co-conspirators. Each of the three men had been arrested for various offenses by local police in the past but had either failed to appear in court or had provided false identities to law enforcement at the time of their arrest.
United States Attorney Miller had high praise for the attorneys and investigators involved in the case: “The U.S. Department of Justice has a nationwide commitment to reducing drug and gun crime in America, and the United States Attorney’s Office is working with our law enforcement partners to execute that nationwide commitment throughout our Northwest Florida communities. The superlative effort of these law enforcement agencies is a textbook example of how cooperating State and Federal investigators can achieve positive results.”
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Vinson on April 22, 2008. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of mandatory minimum 10 years to life imprisonment, a $4,000,000 fine, and 5 years of supervised release for the drug conspiracy. Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000 fine and 3 years of supervised release for the drug possession. Cardon-Cortez faces a maximum penalty of 5 years consecutive imprisonment for the first and a mandatory minimum 25 years to life imprisonment for the second use of a firearm during drug trafficking, and a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and 3 years of supervised release for each possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Edwin F. (Ed) Knight and Tiffany H. Eggers.