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Press Release
United States Attorney Brandon J. Fremin announced that U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles sentenced Oscar Arturo Machado-Galeana, age 36, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to 300 months in federal prison following his convictions after a nine-day jury trial in October 2018 for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana; conspiracy to launder monetary instruments; distribution of methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The Court also sentenced MACHADO-GALEANA to 5 years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment and ordered that the firearm be forfeited. Co-defendant Roy Martin Herrara-Romero, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, was sentenced to 60 months on March 14, 2019.
As the evidence at trial demonstrated, MACHADO-GALEANA obtained pounds of methamphetamine as well as a quantity of heroin from a source operating in Lafayette, Louisiana, as well as pounds of marijuana from a source in northern California. MACHADO-GALEANA, with the assistance of Alexander P. Nava, distributed methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana to various dealers in the Baton Rouge and Laplace, Louisiana areas. MACHADO-GALEANA used a nominee to purchase cashier’s checks and forward those to his marijuana supplier in California. In some instances, Nava and MACHADO-GALEANA carried firearms with them when delivering methamphetamine to dealers and picking up the payments for those controlled substances. On March 18, 2015, during the execution of a search warrant at a storage unit at 13822 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA, law enforcement officers seized approximately 18 pounds of high-grade methamphetamine. Law enforcement agents also executed a search warrant that day at Herrara-Romero’s nearby residence at 13822 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they found triple beam and digital scales, a. 45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and an amount of marijuana. That same morning, officers executed a search warrant at MACHADO-GALEANA’s residence in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they seized a number of firearms, methamphetamine, and marijuana.
U.S. Attorney Fremin stated, “Evidence at trial demonstrated Mr. Machado had connections to a drug cartel in Sinaloa, Mexico. This conviction and sentence is yet another demonstration of our commitment to making our communities safer by combatting violent drug trafficking organizations. I am grateful to our prosecutors and to our federal, state, and local partners for their outstanding efforts and for removing this dangerous dealer, and his poisonous drugs from our streets. We will continue to work tirelessly to seek justice on behalf of the American people.”
“DEA will continue to attack the scourge of illegal drug distribution in Baton Rouge and beyond,” said DEA Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Michael Arnett. “The lengthy sentencing of this defendant should be taken as a message to those who want to sell drugs. We are going to catch you and put you in prison for a long time if you distribute this poison in our communities. ”
This operation is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Baton Rouge Police Department, the West Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, and the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Robert W. Piedrahita, Peter Smyczek and Elizabeth White.
The investigation is another effort by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Program which was established in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers. Today, the OCDETF Program is the centerpiece of the United States Attorney General’s drug strategy to reduce the availability of drugs by disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises. The OCDETF Program operates nationwide and combines the resources and unique expertise of numerous federal, state, and local agencies in a coordinated attack against major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.