Acting U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that yesterday, a federal jury convicted DAN PIZARRO, age 48, a resident of California, for his role in conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and heroin in the New Orleans area. Following a 4-day trial, the jury found PIZARRO guilty of the sole count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and a quantity of heroin.
According to the evidence presented at trial, in June 2014, St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office (SBSO) deputies investigating methamphetamine distribution in Arabi, Louisiana, arrested two men who were selling methamphetamine on West Judge Perez Drive. Through their investigation, deputies learned that their source of methamphetamine was a resident of California and that PIZARRO had introduced them to the source, thereby setting the conspiracy into motion.
Additional evidence presented at trial showed that even after leaving the New Orleans area, PIZARRO continued to direct and supervise the conspiracy. SBSO deputies coordinated with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Orleans Field Office, and between June 26th and 27th, 2014, federal agents and SBSO deputies intercepted four packages containing methamphetamine mailed through Federal Express to Arabi. In total, the four packages contained over one kilogram of methamphetamine. According to DEA laboratory analysts, the methamphetamine in all four packages had a purity level of over 99%, with one shipment testing as 100% pure methamphetamine.
PIZARRO faces a minimum sentence of ten years of imprisonment and a maximum of life imprisonment, a maximum $10,000,000 fine, and at least five years of supervised release. Sentencing before Judge Martin L.C. Feldman is scheduled for December 6, 2017.
Acting U.S. Attorney Evans praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration and St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office, and he thanked the Los Angeles Police Department for their assistance in this investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Shirin Hakimzadeh and Matthew Payne were responsible for the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
