Drug Trafficker Pleads Guilty

EUGENE, Ore. – On April 7, 2016 Rafael Zapien, 23, a Mexican citizen, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, to possessing heroin and methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.  

On August 4, 2014, a Benton County deputy sheriff stopped a vehicle being driven by Zapien on Highway 20 for speeding and suspicion of drunk driving.  A drug detection dog later alerted on a plastic container inside the vehicle’s center console that contained one pound of heroin and four pounds of methamphetamine.  Zapien’s fingerprints were on the container. 

Zapien’s sentencing hearing is scheduled on September 7, 2016; he is faces a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the DEA and Benton County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank R Papagni, Jr. with the assistance of the Benton County District Attorney John Haroldson and Deputy District Attorney Carrie Wineland.