Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia
A Dominican national has been sentenced to over 15 years in prison for drug trafficking and illegal reentry into the United States. Gregorio Gustavo DeJesus Santos received a sentence of 15 years and eight months for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin, as well as for illegally reentering the country after a previous felony conviction.
Court documents reveal that on January 18, 2024, a Virginia State Police Trooper stopped DeJesus Santos on I-85 in Mecklenburg County. A narcotics canine detected drugs, leading to a search of the vehicle. Officers discovered an empty hidden compartment under the passenger seat extending into the back seat area but released DeJesus Santos at that time.
DeJesus Santos later returned to Virginia from North Carolina, where law enforcement stopped him again for a traffic violation. Another canine alert led officers to find two packages in the hidden compartment: one containing 200 grams of fentanyl and another with 293 grams of a mixture of fentanyl and heroin.
As part of his guilty plea, DeJesus Santos admitted to obtaining and redistributing at least three additional kilograms of fentanyl. He had been deported from the United States six times since 1996, most recently on October 18, 2022, following a felony drug conviction in New York.
The sentencing announcement was made by Erik S. Siebert, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Christopher Heck, Acting Special Agent in Charge of ICE HSI Washington D.C.; and Col. Matt Hanley, Superintendent of Virginia State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angela Mastandrea and Patrick J. McGorman.
Further information can be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia or through PACER using Case No. 3:24-cr-88.
