Drug Smuggler Sentenced to 78 Months for Smuggling Fentanyl

TUCSON, Ariz. – Jose Antonio Cota, 33, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced yesterday by United States District Judge James A. Soto to 78 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Cota pleaded guilty to one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl in April 2022.

In August 2020, Cota was a passenger in a commercial shuttle van when it stopped for a routine immigration inspection at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Amado, Arizona. During an inspection of the vehicle and its passengers, Border Patrol agents discovered Cota was hiding several small bundles of fentanyl pills taped to his body.

United States Border Patrol conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-20-1699-TUC-JAS-JR
RELEASE NUMBER:    2023-034_Cota

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
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