13 Members of Willcox Marijuana Trafficking Ring Sentenced to Prison

     PHOENIX – On Sept. 28, 2015, Alma Escalante, the last of thirteen members of a Willcox drug trafficking conspiracy, was sentenced to a term of imprisonment by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow.  Luis Cruz, 41, Escalante’s husband and the leader of the organization, was previously sentenced to 121 months’ imprisonment.  All 13 defendants pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges based on their involvement in an organization responsible for the importation and distribution of marijuana from Mexico through the Willcox area.

     The evidence showed that Cruz coordinated with marijuana scouts and backpackers to illegally traffic marijuana across the border from Mexico and then arranged for its transportation to large-scale distributors in Phoenix.  Those distributors, including Carlos Antonio Garcia-Hurtado, 33, then arranged for the further shipment of marijuana to East Coast and Midwestern locations.  Federal law enforcement agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and U.S. Border Patrol, seized more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana as part of the investigation.  Law enforcement also seized and forfeited two pieces of real estate, firearms, and numerous bank accounts linked to Cruz and Garcia-Hurtado, who both pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in addition to drug trafficking crimes.

     Judge Snow sentenced Garcia-Hurtado to 168 months’ imprisonment and Cruz’s stepchildren, Felipe Escalante-Reyes, 24, and Carime Itsel Reyes-Escalante, 20, received sentences of 42 and 40 months’ imprisonment, respectively.  Other members of the drug trafficking organization were also sentenced as follows:

Robert Torres Luong, 27, received a sentence of 97 months’ imprisonment.

Carlos Ramirez Jr., 43, received a sentence of 57 months’ imprisonment.

Sergio Adan Garcia-Morales, 34, received a sentence of 46 months’ imprisonment.

Jeremiah Woolsey, 26, received a sentence of 30 months’ imprisonment.

Frank Ramon Hernandez, 64, received a sentence of 24 months’ imprisonment.

Sergio Robert Ramos-Moreno, 20, received a sentence of 18 months’ imprisonment.

Maxine Carter, 27, received a sentence of 13 months’ and 1 day imprisonment.

Trevon Bondae, 20, received a sentence of 8 months’ imprisonment, adjusted to account for additional time in Arizona Department of Corrections custody.

     This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Border Patrol and its Tactical Unit (BORTAC), U.S. Marshal’s Service, Graham County Attorney’s Office, National Drug Intelligence Center Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX) , and SWAT Teams from the Mesa Police Department, Apache Junction Police Department, Tempe Police Department, and the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office.  The prosecution was handled by Krissa Lanham, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-13-1709-PHX-GMS

RELEASE NUMBER:   2015-096_Cruz et al

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