ALBUQUERQUE - Ernesto Garcia-Castro, 42, a Mexican national from Ayuquilia, Oaxaca, Mexico, illegally present in the United States, was sentenced this afternoon to ten years in federal prison for his heroin trafficking conviction. Garcia-Castro will be deported after he completes his prison sentence.
Garcia-Castro and his co-defendant Luis Arturo Plazola-Jara, 32, a Mexican national from La Palma, Nayarit, Mexico, were arrested on June 17, 2013, after law enforcement officers found more than four pounds of heroin and narcotics paraphernalia when they executed a search warrant at Garcia-Castro’s residence in southeast Albuquerque. The two subsequently were indicted and charged with conspiracy and possession of heroin with intent to distribute.
Garcia-Castro pled guilty to possession of heroin with intent to distribute on Feb. 18, 2014. Plazola-Jara entered a guilty plea to possession of heroin with intent to distribute on Feb. 6, 2014 and was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. He will be deported after he completes his prison sentence.
This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the DEA and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Pflugrath.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
