Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Drug Conspiracy

Pablo Orlando Rivera-Pachecho, a Mexican national, pled guilty in federal district court yesterday to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute over 10 kilograms of methamphetamine, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Donald S. Boyce announced today. Rivera-Pachecho is being held in federal custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled for January 27, 2017, at 11:00 A.M. before the Honorable Michael J. Reagan, United States District Judge. Rivera-Pachecho faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $10 million fine, no less than five years of supervised release, and $100 special assessment fee.

Evidence in support of this prosecution was obtained in an investigation 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. Agencies participating in this case include the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations, the Illinois State Police, and Fontana, California Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Monica A. Stump.