CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced the leader of a cocaine trafficking ring to 235 months in prison, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In addition to the prison term imposed, Florencio Apreza-Guerrero, 38, of Mexico, was also sentenced to five years of supervised release.
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), Charlotte Division and Eddie Cathey of the Union County Sheriff’s Office.
According to filed documents and court proceedings, from 2013 to 2016, Apreza-Guerrero was the leader of a drug conspiracy responsible for trafficking large amounts of cocaine into Union and Mecklenburg Counties. Court records indicate that, over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized approximately 35 kilograms of cocaine, seven firearms, and $138,000 in cash. Court records also show that Apreza-Guerrero’s drug network was responsible for trafficking 40 to 50 kilograms of cocaine per month. In March 2017, Apreza-Guerrero pleaded guilty to one count of drug trafficking conspiracy and one count of money laundering conspiracy.
Apreza-Guerrero’s co-conspirators have already been sentenced as follows:
1.
Pedro Valle-Barrera, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced to 135 months, followed by five years of supervised release.
2.
Ivan Ortiz Lezama, also known as Tomas Barajas-Rodriguez, 30, of Mexico, was sentenced to 120 months, followed by five years of supervised release.
3.
Juan Cesar Valle-Barrera, 33, of Mexico, was sentenced to 78 months, followed by one year of supervised release.
4.
Alberto Manuel Arreola, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced to 66 months, followed by two years of supervised release.
5.
Hever Garcia-Delgado, 33, of Monroe, NC, was sentenced to 45 months, followed by three years of supervised release.
6.
Alfonso Guevera-Garcia, 23, of Monroe, NC, was sentenced to 24 months, followed by two years of supervised release.
Apreza-Guerrero is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole. Apreza-Guerrero and his co-conspirators will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon the completion of their federal sentences.
This case is the result of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). 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.
In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Rose thanked the FBI and UCSO which led the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven R. Kaufman, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
