United States Attorney Brandon J. Fremin announced today that U.S. District Judge Brian A. Jackson sentenced Norberto Aaron Bejarano, age 32, of Houston, Texas, to 33 months in federal prison following his conviction for distribution of 500 grams or more of cocaine. The Court further sentenced BEJARANO to 3 years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment. BEJARANO must also forfeit $69,920 in drug proceeds. Upon release from prison, Bejarano will be removed from the United States and returned to his home country of Mexico.
BEJARANO was charged as a result of an extensive federal, state, and local investigation aimed at a drug trafficking network based in Ascension Parish and covering Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. The drug trafficking organization, led by Arthur Johnson (“Johnson"), distributed multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, crack cocaine, and heroin in and around Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and Ascension Parish Louisiana. BEJARANO assisted the Johnson drug trafficking organization by transporting kilogram quantities of cocaine from Texas to Louisiana for further distribution in and around Ascension Parish, Louisiana, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, by members of the Johnson drug trafficking organization.
U.S. Attorney Fremin stated, “This is yet another step in reaching our office’s goal of reducing crime and aggressively enforcing federal law. The people of Ascension Parish are better off now that this defendant is off the streets. I am grateful for the hard work and efforts of our prosecutors and many local, state and federal partners who worked tirelessly on this very important matter."
Eric J. Rommal, FBI New Orleans Special Agent in Charge stated, “I commend the tremendous efforts put forth by the FBI Baton Rouge Resident Agency Office, Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and the Baton Rouge Police Department in removing a significant amount of illegal narcotics from our streets. Through their persistence to identify, track, and apprehend drug traffickers in South Central Louisiana, our children and families have a safer community."
The investigation is another effort by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Program which was established in 1982 to mount a comprehensive attack against organized drug traffickers. Today, the OCDETF Program is the centerpiece of the United States Attorney General’s drug strategy to reduce the availability of drugs by disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations and money laundering organizations and related criminal enterprises. The OCDETF Program operates nationwide and combines the resources and unique expertise of numerous federal, state, and local agencies in a coordinated attack against major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations.
This OCDETF operation was investigated by the FBI Baton Rouge Capitol Area Gang Task Force, which is an FBI Safe Street Task Force that includes the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and Baton Rouge Police Department, with assistance from the Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, the FBI Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Resident Agency, and Hattiesburg, Mississippi Police Department. This matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jamie A. Flowers, Jr.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
