California-Based Marijuana Trafficker Handed Down 20 Year Prison Sentence

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Jose Delarosa, also known as “Chino” or “Pretty,” was sentenced on Monday, October 26, 2015, to 240 months in prison for his role as a major supplier of marijuana based in California, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Delarosa, 36, of Moreno Valley, California, was also ordered to forfeit $48,000 in cash seized, to pay a $25 million money judgment and to serve five years of supervised release upon his release from prison.

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Atlanta and the Carolinas and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

According to information contained in filed documents and court proceedings, Delarosa was involved in a marijuana trafficking conspiracy that spanned from coast to coast.  According to court records, from about 2009 to about May 2014, Delarosa was a major marijuana supplier, responsible for trafficking 10 to 30 tons of marijuana from the Los Angeles area to the east coast, including to Charlotte, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, as well as other locations throughout the country.  Court records show that Delarosa transported the drugs via a network of couriers flying on commercial flights.  The couriers flew to California, each time carrying approximately $50,000 in cash in carry-on luggage and returned to Charlotte with approximately 100 pounds of marijuana per trip hidden in checked baggage.

This Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, code-named “Operation Goldilocks,” has resulted in the dismantling of the organization and the seizure of more than $1 million of drug proceeds, 600 pounds of marijuana, and 13 firearms.  The investigation has also netted the successful prosecution of 65 defendants, with three fugitives remaining.

The OCDETF Program was established in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers. Today, the OCDETF Program is the centerpiece of the United States Attorney General’s drug strategy to reduce the availability of illegal drugs by identifying and targeting the major trafficking organizations, eliminating the financial infrastructure of drug organizations by emphasizing financial investigations and asset forfeiture, redirecting federal drug enforcement resources to align them with existing and emerging drug threats, and conducting expanded, nationwide investigations against all the related parts of the targeted organizations.

This ongoing OCDETF investigation is being led by HSI and CMPD, assisted by several state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Gastonia Police Department, the Concord Police Department, the Mooresville Police Department, the Pineville Police Department, the Huntersville Police Department, the Kannapolis Police Department, the Cornelius Police Department, the Waxhaw Police Department, North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office, the Union County Sheriff’s Office, and the Culver City, California Police Department.  The prosecution for the government is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.

In addition to Delarosa, the following 68 defendants have been charged in connection with Operation Goldilocks:

3:10-cr-238, Coleman et al:

1. Parker Coleman – 720 months in prison, followed by 10 years supervised release.
2. Stephanie Peppers – 54 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
3. Shaunda Shenal McAdoo – 36 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
4. Ryann Chancler Lewis – 87 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
5. Samantha Jo Schmidlin – 27 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
6. Nolan Robertson – 41 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
7. Leah Patience Davis – 24 months of probation.
8. Leon Edgar Robertson –84 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
9. Mark Eric Dorsey, II – 96 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
10. Wendell Jerrod Robinson – 72 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
11. Davon Clifton Harris – 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
12. Christopher Seaton McKneely – 37 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
13. Gerren Ezekiel Darty – 188 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
14. Glenn O’Neil Carrera – 87 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
15. William Pierce – 36 months in prison, followed by 3 years’ supervised release.
16. Rico Lamont Grier – 36 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
17. Harold Manigault – 30 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
18. Mark Rene Hunt – 46 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
19. Jason Lee Banks – 78 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
20. Megan Amelia Baehr – 41 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.

3:10-cr-245, Crockett et al:

1. Ahmed Daniel Crockett – 235 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
2. Goldie Frances Crockett – 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
3. Sharon Kelsey-Brown – 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
4. Robert Jonathan Brown – 58 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
5. Shondu Lamar Lynch – 96 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.

3:11-cr-18, Romero Lamont Massey – 60 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.

3:11-cr-46, Lasonya White – 24 months of probation.

3:11-cr-85, Thomas Diggs, III – 12 months and 1 day in prison, followed by 2 years supervised release.

3:11-cr-09, Jerry Davis – 48 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.

3:11-cr-256, Saulsberry et al:

1. Kamia Arekai Saulsberry – 36 months of probation.
2. Kisha Dorsey – 44 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
3. Robert Earl Dorsey, Jr. –48 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
4. Ashley Rae Williams – 6 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
5. Tonisha Deshon Williams –70 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
6. Vincent Talbot – 72 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
7. Kevin Lamont Stanfield, Jr. – 42 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
8. Danny Hance – 37 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.

3:11-cr-287, Thomas Lavon Smith, Jr. – 168 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.

3:11-cr-337, Logie et al:

1. Tavarus Shamaco Logie – 210 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
2. Crystal Alethea Easter – 36 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
3. Don Levon Marsh – 48 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
4. Anthony Silva Alegrete – 54 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
5. Ronald C. Hargette – 60 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
6. Sandra Anita Landers – 27 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
7. Evelyn Chantell LaChapelle – 87 months in prison followed by 4 years supervised release.
8. Natalia Christina Wade – 6 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
9. Francine Vanessa Williams – 87 months in prison followed by 4 years supervised release.
10. Marvin Ray Wilburn – 30 months in prison, followed by 2 years supervised release.
11. Corvain T. Cooper –life in prison.
12. Leamon Keishan Moseley – 36 months in prison, followed by 2 years supervised release.
13. Gregory Wall – pled guilty; 46 months in prison, followed by 4 years’ supervised release
14. Dana Lamont Adams –60 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.
15. Lamar Andrew Harris – 50 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
16. Clyde Monroe Wilburn – currently a fugitive.

3:13-cr-18, Lopez et al:

1. Octavio Lopez – 57 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.
2. Enrique Leonardo Lemus – 70 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
3. Gustavo Campos Garcia – 84 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.
4. Roberto Mendoza – pending sentencing (3:14-cr-164)
5. Edgar Milian – 57 months in prison, followed by 2 years supervised release.
6. Cristian Deylah West – 24 months in prison, followed by 4 years supervised release.

3:13-cr-40, Andrew Scott Lowery – 46 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.

3:13-cr-132, Darrick Leon Johnson – 120 months in prison, followed by 5 years supervised release.

3:14-cr-252, Sergio Arturo Ibarra – pending sentencing (3:15-cr-164)

3:15-cr-42, Erik J. Jeter – pending guilty plea hearing.

3:14-mj-72, Jose Rene Ibarra – currently a fugitive.

3:14-mj-73, Dennis Delarosa – currently a fugitive.