Individual Sentenced To 12 Years In Prison For Drug Trafficking And Firearm Violations

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico– Yesterday, defendant José Centeno-González was sentenced by Honorable Judge Francisco Besosa to 12 years of imprisonment and 3 years of Supervised Release, announced Rosa Emilia Rodríguez-Vélez, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico.

José Centeno-González was arrested by the Police of Puerto Rico on May 6, 2015 while driving a Toyota Tundra. A search warrant was obtained for the Toyota Tundra and during the execution of the search police officers discovered a firearm, a Glock .40, 84 rounds of ammunition, and 113 grams of crack-cocaine inside a hidden compartment. At the time of Centeno’s arrest, he was on supervised release for a priory felony firearms offense. Following a jury trial, on September 21, 2016, Centeno was convicted of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony.

Yesterday, March 29, 2017, during the sentencing hearing the Court found by a preponderance of the evidence that Centeno possessed with intent to distribute 113 grams of crack-cocaine and that he possessed the firearm in furtherance of this offense. Consequently, Centeno was sentenced to the statutory maximum term of imprisonment of 120 months followed by a three-year term of supervised release. In addition, the Court revoked Centeno’s supervision for having engaged in new criminal conduct and sentenced him to serve a consecutive 24-month term of imprisonment for a total sentence of 12 years.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander Alum and Marie Christine Amy from the U.S. Attorney’s Violent Crimes Unit.