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Press Release

Mexican Man Sentenced for Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl and Fentanyl Analogue

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Nebraska

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Orlando Castro-Gutierrez, 29, of Mexico, was sentenced today, in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Castro-Gutierrez to 76 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogue.  After completing his sentence, Castro-Gutierrez will be placed on supervised release for 4 years.  Castro-Gutierrez faces deportation from the United States following the service of his sentence.  There is no parole in the federal system. 

On March 7, 2022, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper stopped a vehicle driven by co-defendant Alejandro Berrelleza-Bojorquez on Interstate 80 in Dawson County for speeding.  Orlando Castro-Gutierrez was the passenger.  The trooper smelled marijuana odor emanating from the vehicle, and the vehicle was searched.  In the trunk, law enforcement found 10 triple-wrapped bags under clothing. Those bags contained about 10,000 pills.  Law enforcement also found in the trunk 15 zip-lock baggies in a paper sack that contained about 15,000 pills.  The vehicle was towed, and both men were arrested.  Upon further search after the tow, law enforcement found a 1 kilogram-sized brick in a box in the trunk.  Sample pills from the 10 wrapped bags were tested at the state lab, and the lab confirmed that they contained fentanyl.  The pills in those ten wrapped bags weighed over one kilogram.  Sample pills from the 15 zip-lock baggies were tested at the lab, and the lab determined they contained para-fluorofentanyl, a schedule I substance and analogue of fentanyl.  The pills from those 15 baggies weighed about one and a half kilograms.  The brick was tested at the lab as well, and the lab confirmed it contained fentanyl. 

Berrelleza-Bojorquez was sentenced on April 14, 2023, and received the same sentence.

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.

Contact

Matt Lierman – Chief, Drug Enforcement Unit (402) 661-3700

Updated August 18, 2023