Foreign National Sentenced For Controlled Substances And Immigration Offenses

Abel Camacho-Ortega was sentenced in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis on February 11, 2013, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Camacho-Ortega, 42, a citizen of Mexico who most recently resided in Granite City, Illinois, was sentenced to eighty-seven (87) months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. He was also order to pay a fine of $300 and a special assessment of $210. In addition, the Court entered a Judicial Order of Removal, which requires Camacho-Ortega to be deported from the United States following the service of his term of imprisonment. Camacho-Ortega had previously pled guilty on October 18, 2012, to Possession with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine (Count 1); Possession with the Intent to Distribute Cocaine (Count 2); and Illegal Entry into the United States Without Inspection (Count 3).

According to the Stipulation of Facts filed with the Court at the time of his plea of guilty, Camacho-Ortega was stopped by the Granite City Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on August 20, 2012, after his vehicle was observed traveling 70 miles per hour in a 45 miles per hour construction zone. After a consensual search of the vehicle, officers located packages containing 598 grams of cocaine and 449.7 grams of actual methamphetamine. Camacho-Ortega also admitted that he was present in the United States illegally.

Evidence in support of the indictment was obtained in an investigation which was conducted under the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The OCDETF initiative is designed to bring federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies and resources together to identify, target and dismantle large national and international drug trafficking organizations. Participating agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI), the Granite City Police Department, and the Fairview Heights Police Department. This case was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Randy G. Massey for prosecution.