June 13, 2007

Oregon man sentenced to 20 years for cocaine trafficking
Cocaine seized worth an estimated $2.6 million

EAGLE PASS, Texas - A federal judge here sentenced an Oregon man to serve 20 years in prison for his role in a multi-million dollar cocaine-trafficking case, the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum on Monday sentenced Mexican national Everardo Nunez-Guerrero, 33, to serve 240 months in federal prison.

ICE agents arrested Nunez-Guerrero July 16, 2006 while attempting to smuggle 69 pounds of cocaine from Mexico through the port of entry at Eagle Pass, Texas. An investigation revealed that Nunez-Guerrero recruited two women from Portland, Ore., to accompany him on a cocaine smuggling venture and pay them $10,000 to transport the drugs from Mexico to Atlanta, Georgia.

The women drove Nunez-Guerrero in a 1999 Chevrolet van to Guanajuato, Mexico, where they picked up the cocaine. They were arrested while attempting to return to the U.S. The two women, Jacqueline Wallace, 25, and Tanya Synder, 27, both plead guilty earlier this month and were sentenced to 43 months in prison.

"This is a significant sentence that sends a strong message - this type of criminal activity will not go unnoticed," said Jerry Robinette, special agent in charge of ICE's San Antonio Office of Investigations. "We work aggressively to keep drugs out of our communities, and to dismantle the criminal networks that profit from narcotics trafficking."

ICE also learned that Nunez-Guerrero became a legal permanent resident, or "green card" holder, in 1988. Those who are legal permanent residents of the United States are subject to removal as a result of a criminal conviction.

-- ICE --