April 21, 2010

WYANDOTTE COUNTY DRUG TRAFFICKER SENTENCED TO 24+ YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - Francisco Perea, 41, has been sentenced to 292 months in federal prison for trafficking in methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today.

Perea pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. In his plea, he admitted that in 2007, 2008 and 2009 he was a member of a drug trafficking organization in Kansas City, Kan., headed by co-defendant Juan Mata-Soto, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced in December 2009 to life in federal prison.

Investigators monitored phone calls between Perea and Mata-Soto in which the two men discussed their drug trafficking business. They gathered evidence that Perea sold methamphetamine for two years before his arrest in July 2009. He stored and sold methamphetamine from residences at 1010 Ann in Kansas City, Kan., and 4372 Troup in Kansas City, Kan. In the fall of 2008, Perea allowed Mata-Soto to use the basement garage at 4372 Troup to unload methamphetamine that had been smuggled to Kansas City in vehicle gas tanks. After Mata-Soto was arrested in November 2008, Perea began dealing directly with Mata-Soto’s methamphetamine supplier.

Other defendants in the case include:
Juan Mata Soto, who was sentenced to life in federal prison.
Martin Arrendondo-Valenzuela, who was sentenced to 360 months.
Omar Castro-Bojorquez, who was sentenced to 168 months.
Jose Lopez-Lugo, who was sentenced to 151 months.
Ramon Manuel Romero-Gomez, who was sentenced to 135 months.
2010.
Azucena Alvarado-Martinez, who was sentenced to 24 months.

Welch commended the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri McCracken for their work on the case.