Press Releases
TEXAS/LOUISIANA MEN INDICTED FOR FEDERAL DRUG CONSPIRACY
December 7, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LIZANDRO TIJERINA, aka “Junior”, age 32, a resident of Baytown, Texas; ERNEST TURNER, aka “Baldie”, “B-Man”, age 42, a resident of New Orleans, Louisiana; PABLO SOLIS, age 46, a resident of Houston, Texas, RICARDO RIVERA, age 36, a resident of Baytown, Texas; CELESTINO RIVERA, age 38, a resident of Baytown, Texas; and NICOLAS ALANIS, age 28, a resident of Baytown, Texas were charged in a superseding indictment by a Federal Grand Jury for conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten, DEA Special Agent in Charge William J. Renton, ICE Special Agent in Charge Michael Holt and Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand.
During the course of the investigation initiated in 2003 by deputies assigned to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Airport Interdiction Unit, local and federal agents have made seizures of approximately $837,000 from a hidden compartment in a tractor trailer in Metairie, Louisiana in October, 2003 and twenty-three (23) kilograms of cocaine from a hidden compartment in a Volkswagen Passat and approximately $480,000 from a home in the Baytown, Texas area in February, 2004 that was related to this group’s efforts to distribute cocaine hydrochloride in the New Orleans area.
Federal authorities have recently arrested TIJERINA, TURNER, RICARDO RIVERA, CELESTINO RIVERA, and ALANIS. Defendant SOLIS is presently being sought by federal authorities.
Speaking to today’s developments, U. S. Attorney Letten stated:
DEA Special Agent in Charge William Renton added:
If convicted, each defendant faces a minimum term of imprisonment of ten years and a maximum term of life imprisonment, a fine of $4,000,000, and five (5) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment;
U. S. Attorney Letten reiterated that the indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
The case was investigated by the agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and deputies of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys William J. Quinlan, Jr. and Sivashree Sundaram.
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