NEWARK, N.J. – A Sunnyside, Washington, resident was
sentenced today to 151 months in prison for his role in a drug-trafficking
conspiracy that ended in February 2017 with the seizure of 15 kilograms of
cocaine in a parking lot in Burbank, California, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito
announced.
Efrain Cardenas Alcaras, 41, was charged in the District of
New Jersey with conspiracy to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine.
His case was later transferred to the Central District of California in Los
Angeles, where Alcaras pleaded guilty to an indictment before U.S. District
Judge Philip S. Gutierrez. He was charged with at least three other people, two
of whom have been sentenced in New Jersey by U.S. District Judge William H.
Walls in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements
made in court:
From Aug. 31, 2016, through Feb. 8, 2017, law enforcement
officers were monitoring communications between one of Alcaras’ co-defendants
and others. Those communications led to law enforcement officers seizing
approximately one kilogram of cocaine that a co-defendant had sold to another
individual in California on Sept. 26, 2016. The cocaine was intended to be
delivered to New Jersey.
On Feb. 8, 2017, in Burbank, California, law enforcement
officers observed as Alcaras and his conspirators met with another individual
in the parking lot of a retail establishment. The conspirators arrived in two
vehicles, a black Jeep and a white sedan. Alcaras was driving the black Jeep,
which was determined to contain the illegal narcotics. Approximately 15
kilograms of cocaine and a .380 caliber firearm were recovered from the scene.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Gutierrez sentenced
Alcaras to five years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI,
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie in Newark, with
the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Melissa Wangenheim of the Criminal Division in Newark.
Defense counsel: Humberto Diaz Esq., Los Angeles, California
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