Two Cocaine Traffickers Handed Down Lengthy Prison Terms

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. handed down lengthy prison terms to two cocaine traffickers for their involvement in a long-standing drug conspiracy, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.  Ricardo Rebollar, 27, of Mexico, was sentenced to 168 months in prison and Jose Munoz, 28, of Asheboro, N.C., was sentenced to 70 months of prison.  Each defendant was also ordered to serve five years under court supervision following their prison terms.              

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 (HSI) 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).

According to filed documents and statements made in court, the conspiracy operated in Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties, and elsewhere, from 2011 to December 2014, and it involved more than 150 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of more than $7 million.  Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized 19 firearms, including assault style weapons.  Court records indicate that the co-conspirators used “cover cars” to provide armed support to couriers as they distributed multiple-kilograms of cocaine per delivery.  This investigation has resulted in the conviction of more than 45 defendants and the seizure of more than 38 kilograms of cocaine and $2 million in drug proceeds.

Three others defendants were previously sentenced in connection with this investigation.  They are:  

• Jose Otoniel Rebollar, 33, of Asheboro, N.C., was sentenced on 12/8/2015 to 148 months

• Pablo Munoz, 32, of Asheboro, N.C., was sentenced on 1/29/2016 to 120 monthsfollowed by five years of supervised release.

• Raul Rebollar, 30, of Randleman, N.C., was sentenced on 11/20/2015 to 63 months in prison, followed by 3 years supervised release.

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.

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