St. Louis Man Sentenced For Role In Cocaine Conspiracy

A St. Louis man who pled guilty on April 11, 2013, in federal court, to being a member of a large cocaine distribution organization, was sentenced on July 19, 2013, the United States for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Mario Orduna, 46, was sentenced to 60 months imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release. Orduna was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and a $100 special assessment. The Court entered an Order directing that Orduna forfeit $18,500 (which represented drug proceeds) to the United States.

To date, twenty-nine other members of the organization, which was responsible for trafficking in more than 150 kilograms of cocaine, have been convicted and sentenced to prison for terms ranging from 21 months to 521 months.

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), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Marshal Service, the Granite City Police Department, Fairmont City Police Department, Collinsville Police Department, Fairview Heights Police Department, Caseyville Police Department, Pontoon Beach Police Department, Park Hills (Missouri) Police Department, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, and the Illinois State Police. This case was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Randy G. Massey for prosecution.