Three Drug Traffickers Sentenced To At Least 10 Years In Prison

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Three drug traffickers were sentenced to 10 years or more, for their involvement in two separate Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigations, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. 

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) in Atlanta and the Carolinas; Chief Robert C. Helton of the Gastonia Police Department (GPD); and Chief Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD).

Those sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. are:

• Pablo Munoz, 32, of Asheboro, N.C. was sentenced to 120 months, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking between 15 and 50 kilograms of cocaine.

• Don C. Hill, 41, of Gastonia, was sentenced to 132 months, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking between 10 and 30 ounces of crack cocaine.

• Roberto Mendoza, 28, of South El Monte, California, was sentenced to 121 months, followed by five years of supervised release, for trafficking one to three tons of marijuana.

OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

Munoz and Hill are part of an OCDETF investigation codenamed “Fox Run,” which has resulted in the conviction of more than 40 defendants on cocaine and crack cocaine trafficking, money laundering, and firearms charges.  The investigation is led by the FBI, HSI, and GPD, with assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, CMPD, Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, Asheboro Police Department, and North Carolina State Highway Patrol. 

Mendoza is part of OCDETF “Goldilocks,” which has resulted in the conviction of more than 65 defendants on marijuana trafficking, money laundering, and firearms charges, which is being led by HSI and CMPD, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service, Pineville Police Department, Cornelius Police Department, Mooresville Police Department, North Carolina Department of Alcohol Law Enforcement, and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office.

The ongoing investigation and prosecution for the government in both OCDETF investigations is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte.