Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Mark R. Trouville, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division, Anthony V. Mangione, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Division, Chadwick E. Wagner, Chief, Hollywood Police Department, Patrick Lynn, Chief, Davie Police Department, Keith Dunn, Chief, Miramar Police Department, James K. Loftus, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department, Al Lamberti, Sheriff, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, and John T. Czernis, Director, Florida Highway Patrol, announce today that U.S. District Court Judge James I. Cohn sentenced the final two defendants involved in the Ayala Drug Trafficking Organization.

Specifically, defendant, Jose Alonso Escobar, 28, of Miami, FL, was sentenced to 168 months imprisonment followed by a term of 5 years supervised release, and defendant, Marko Roude, 28, of Fort Lauderdale, FL, was sentenced to 87 months imprisonment followed by a term of 3 years supervised release for their participation in a large scale heroin distribution conspiracy. The leader of the organization, Jose Wilson Ayala, 35, of Davie, FL, was previously sentenced to 210 months imprisonment followed by a term of 5 years supervised release. Defendant, Juan Luis Sanchez-Valdez, was previously sentenced to 151 months imprisonment followed by a term of 5 years supervised release. In March 2009, law enforcement began an investigation of the Ayala drug distribution organization, which was alleged to be distributing significant amounts of heroin throughout South Florida. The results of that 18-month investigation, revealed that this large scale network was responsible for the daily distribution of heroin resulting in the distribution of multi-kilogram quantities of heroin throughout Broward County and Miami-Dade County, Florida. Each of the defendants pled guilty to the indictment which charged them with conspiracy to distribute heroin from March 2009 through October 14, 2010, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 846.

Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the DEA, ICE, Hollywood Police Department, Davie Police Department, Miramar Police Department, and Miami-Dade Police Department. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the Broward County Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol for their assistance in this matter. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer C. Millien.

Return to Top

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.