Illegal alien sentenced for drug charge

MARTINSBURG, WEST VIRGINIA – Rogelio Santacruz Godinez, also known as “Tramposo,” also known as “Trampa,” Citizen of Mexico, was sentenced today to 60 months incarceration for a drug charge, United States Attorney Bill Powell announced. 

Godinez, age 37, pled guilty to one count of “Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine” in August 2018. Godinez worked with others to distribute cocaine in Berkeley and Jefferson Counties from August 2017 to February 2018.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shawn M. Adkins and Lara K. Omps-Botteicher prosecuted the case on behalf of the government. The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Marshals Service, the Eastern Panhandle Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, a HIDTA-funded initiative, the Potomac Highlands Drug & Violent Crimes Task Force, the Northwest Virginia Regional Drug & Gang Task Force , the West Virginia State Police, the Virginia State Police, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Martinsburg Police Department, the Charles Town Police Department, and the Ranson Police Department. Other agencies that assisted in the investigation are the Winchester City Police Department; and Frederick County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office; Pittsylvania County; Virginia Sheriff’s Office; and the Henry County, Virginia, Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation was funded in part by the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Program (OCDETF). The OCDETF program supplies critical federal funding and coordination that allows federal and state agencies to work together to successfully identify, investigate, and prosecute major interstate and international drug trafficking organizations and other criminal enterprises.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh presided.