A Colorado man was recently sentenced to 176 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine sourced from Mexico.
Omar Rivas-Saenz, 31, of Denver, was sentenced on Dec. 17 by U.S. District Court Judge Raymond Moore, a U.S. Department of Justice press release said. Rivas-Saenz worked for a drug trafficking network between May 2019 and September 2019 involved in the transportation and distribution of illegal narcotics in the United States.
“Through the collaboration on the Denver Strike Force, the FBI and our federal, state, and local partners dismantle transnational criminal enterprises involved in drug trafficking and money laundering within our communities,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael Schneider said in the release.
Rivas-Saenz was arrested on May 16, 2019, after being found with approximately seven pounds of methamphetamine and $6,000 in cash, the release said. During a search of his home, authorities found several guns, $3,000 in cash, 67 grams of heroin and 400 fentanyl pills.
After being absent from his court hearing, Rivas-Saenz delivered a pound of 98% pure methamphetamine to a confidential informant and assisted in the distribution of 10 pounds of the narcotic, the release said. He also participated in redistributing 46 to 50 pounds of methamphetamine. All of this occurred within six days after his arrest.
On Sept. 12, 2019, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials attempted to arrest Rivas-Saenz again, at which point the suspect hit police vehicles with his car and fled on foot, the release said. He was apprehended after a chase through a residential area.
“Armed drug dealers who run from law enforcement create a particularly dangerous threat to the safety of our communities,” United States Attorney Cole Finegan said in the release. “Our office is working with law enforcement partners to make Colorado a safer place by prosecuting these dangerous criminals.”
The prosecution was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation focused on identifying, disrupting and dismantling high-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and other criminal organizations.
