Border Patrol Officer and His Wife Convicted in Federal Court for Conspiracy to Illegally Smuggle Ritalin Into the United States from Mexico

Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the Southern District of Alabama announces that United States District Court Judge William H. Steele sentenced border patrol officer Frank Peter Salamone and his wife Heather Turner Salamone on July 6, 2017.  They were both to serve a term of imprisonment of time served followed by 3 years of supervised release for the conspiracy to illegally import Methylphenidate (Ritalin) into the United States in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 963.

In October 2015, Homeland Security Investigations and the United States Postal Inspection Service began an investigation into an organization that was smuggling Methylphenidate (Ritalin) pills into the United States from Mexico.  During the investigation, it was revealed that both defendants, made several wire transactions totaling approximately $12,000.00 to a third co-defendant, Marangely Conde for the purposes of purchasing the Methylphenidate Hydrochloride (Ritalin) from Mexico.  After receiving the payments, Conde crossed the border into Mexico to procure the Ritalin and illegally smuggle the narcotics back into the United States and then ship the narcotics via U.S. mail to the defendants who resided in Mississippi.  Consequently, federal authorities were able to intercept and track the illegal shipments of Ritalin and discovered that the address in Mississippi belonged to Frank Peter Salamone, was an employee of a United States Border Patrol.  The defendants previously entered their guilty pleas before the Court on March 27, 2017.  The third co-defendant, Marangely Conde, entered a guilty plea on March 24, 2017, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 27, 2017.

The case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Postal Inspection Service.  The case was prosecuted by Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDEFT) Lead Attorney, Assistant United States Attorney George F. May and Assistant United States Attorney Lawrence J. Bullard for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.