Two prominent members of a drug-trafficking organization who are also related to the cartel's ringleader have been sentenced to "significant amounts of time" in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice announced March 21.
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour of the U.S. District Court in Seattle sentenced Jose Arrondondo-Valdez, 27, to nine years in prison and Yvette Olguin, 40, to 30 months in prison, the DOJ reports in the news release.
Arrondondo-Valdez, a cousin of ringleader Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, "distributed drugs and collected payments – sometimes by force," for the drug ring operating from a rural property near Arlington, Wash. Olguin, Valdez-Sanudo’s wife, handled the gang's hotel and travel arrangements and laundered the money it took in, according to the news release.
“Debt collection, money laundering – these are sophisticated organizations that don’t function without members who handle these chores – and the two people sentenced today were key players in a drug ring that distributed massive amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl in our community. In addition to prison time, substantial resources have also been seized as proceeds of drug trafficking,” U.S. Attorney Nick Brown said in the release.
Judge Coughenour said that he predicated his sentences “on the scale of the drug ring and that it supplied fentanyl, which is an exceedingly hazardous substance” when imposing penalties, according to the release.
After an extensive wiretap investigation, members of the narcotics network were charged in December 2020. Throughout the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers seized a sizable quantity of drugs, including a 49-pound shipment of methamphetamine that was being brought into Washington State from California in boxes meant for home goods, the release reported. In total, the inquiry resulted in the seizure of 24 weapons, around $ 778,000, 35,000 suspected fentanyl tablets, 15 pounds of heroin, about 143 pounds of methamphetamine, and about 15 pounds of heroin.
“With today’s sentences, Mr. Arrondondo-Valdez and Ms. Olguin will spend significant amounts of time in federal custody as a result of their roles in this drug trafficking organization,” Jacob Galvan, acting Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division, said in the release.
“Together with our state and local partners, we removed significant amounts of narcotics and firearms from the community and prevented the organization from using its proceeds to further their illicit schemes,” Galvan said.
