Louisiana Man Pleads Guilty to Attempting to Purchase Cocaine with Intent to Distribute

Gulfport, Miss. – Saul Guzman Ontiveros, age 42, of Terrytown, Louisiana, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. to attempting to purchase 5 kilograms of cocaine with intent to distribute, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge J. Derryle Smith.

In January and February of this year, a confidential source was approached by Guzman Ontiveros about purchasing cocaine from the source. Guzman Ontiveros agreed to purchase 5 kilograms of cocaine for $105,000. The government was able to seize $104,000 over the course of several days prior to the arrest of the defendant.

Guzman Ontiveros will be sentenced on September 27, 2018 by Judge Guirola, and faces a maximum penalty 40 years in prison and a $5 million fine.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Meynardie.