Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced To More Than 14 Years In Prison

SAN JOSE – Raul Guadalupe Monjardin-Iribe was sentenced today to 175 months (14 years, 7 months) in prison for his part in a conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge John J. Martin. The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Edward J. Davila, U.S. District Court Judge, following a guilty plea entered in December of last year.

Raul Monjardin-Iribe, 36, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty on December 20, 2016, to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine, and one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  The defendant entered a guilty plea without a written agreement.  In pleading guilty, he admitted to conspiring with other individuals to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine in the Northern District of California between January 2015 and September 2015.  He further admitted that, on or about May 23, 2015, he distributed one kilogram of cocaine to a co-conspirator.  Monjardin-Iribe, who was living in the San Jose area at the time of the offense, was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 8, 2015.  He was charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1), and 841(b)(1)(A)(viii); and one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C §§ 841(a)(1) and 841(b)(1)(B).  Monjardin-Iribe pleaded guilty to both counts in the indictment.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Davila sentenced Monjardin-Iribe to a 5-year period of supervised release.  The defendant has been in custody since his arrest on September 19, 2015, and will begin serving his sentence immediately.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chinhayi Cadet is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Patricia Mahoney.  This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.