Four defendants, two of which are illegal aliens, have been sentenced for their roles in a decade-long cocaine trafficking network.
According to a press statement from U.S. Attorney BJay Pak, Roberto Garza-Mendez, age 34 of Norcross; Shadarrian Grimes, age 49 of Suwanee; Euklides Gonzalez-Hernandez, age 41 of Conyers and Jonathan Pena, age 27 of Stone Mountain, each previously pleaded guilty to their role.
In addition, Garza-Mendez, an illegal alien deported twice from the United States, and Grimes confessed to having trafficked 200 kilograms of cocaine together over the space of a decade.
After a federal investigation lasting several months, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration learned the date and time that Garza-Mendez planned to sell several kilograms of cocaine to Grimes. Agents with the DEA and officers with the Georgia State Patrol followed Garza-Mendez from his home, stopped him and then seized the cocaine and a loaded gun.
Following a search of Garza-Mendez’s home, agents recovered more cocaine, $18,000 in cash and a loaded rifle. A search of Grimes’s home uncovered $36,000 in cash that was intended to pay Garza-Mendez, as well as drug paraphernalia and loaded pistol.
Grimes confessed that he had purchased his home in Suwanee, diamond watches and a luxury vehicle with profit by selling cocaine from Garza-Mendez.
Meanwhile, agents learned that Gonzalez-Hernandez and Pena were recent additions to the network run by Garza-Mendez and Grimes. Following the arrests of the latter, agents searched the Conyers residence of Gonzalez-Hernandez.
Agents identified Gonzalez-Hernandez, also an illegal alien, as the operator of a cocaine stash house. Agents seized around seven kilograms of cocaine that were hidden in an air compressor tank in Gonzalez-Hernandez’s apartment.
Agents also learned that Pena was a courier for Garza-Mendez and transported cocaine and money for the defendants. Pena was arrested without incident outside his home in Stone Mountain.
“Thanks to the diligent efforts of our law enforcement partners, these defendants’ days of distributing cocaine in the Atlanta community have ended,” said Pak. “Also, by seizing these defendants’ drug-related assets, we hope to send a clear message that drug traffickers will not be permitted to profit from the poison they distribute.”
Garza-Mendez was sentenced to sixteen years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Grimes was sentenced to twelve years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. Gonzalez-Hernandez was sentenced to five years, three months in prison and Pena was sentenced to two years, four months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.
Following the completion of their sentence, Garza-Mendez and Gonzalez-Hernandez will be deported to Mexico.
As part of their sentences, the Court ordered that all of the defendants’ illegally-acquired assets be forfeited to the United States.
