Press Release
Contact:
BRIAN P. LENNON
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2404
EIGHT DEFENDANTS PLEAD GUILTY IN CASE INVOLVING SEIZURE OF OVER
TWO THOUSAND POUNDS OF MARIJUANA HIDDEN IN MEXICAN POTTERY
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2008 -
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – U.S. Attorney Charles R. Gross, and Brian M.
Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration
and Customs Enforcement Office of Investigations for Michigan and Ohio (ICE) announced the
guilty pleas of eight individuals from Southwest Michigan and Northern Indiana related to the
importation of over a metric ton – 1,000 kilograms or 2,200 pounds – of marijuana from
Mexico into the United States.
On June 24, 2008, Terry Lynn Ottman, age 31, of Elkhart, Indiana, was the last of the eight defendants to plead guilty in federal court. Ottman, who appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Hugh W. Brenneman Jr., admitted to purchasing marijuana from co-defendant Humberto Mota, age 34, also from Elkhart, Indiana, and distributing the marijuana to others in 2005 and 2006. Ottman was not involved with the importation of over one ton of marijuana that Humberto Mota and others arranged for an Edwardsburg, MI warehouse in January 2008. Accordingly, at his guilty plea to a Superseding Information, Ottman admitted to being a drug conspirator prior to that time to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 kilograms or ore of marijuana. When he returns to federal court for sentencing on September 30 before Chief Judge Robert Holmes Bell, Ottman faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison followed by at least three years of supervised release.
Last month, six other defendants entered guilty pleas in federal court. Specifically, Elkhart, Indiana residents Jose Sandoval, age 19, Roberto Mota, age 27, Roberto Hildalgo, age 21, and Antonio Herrera-Espinoza, age 30, all pled guilty to Count Two of the First Superseding Indictment, charging a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute the over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana between 2007 and January 28, 2008. Juan Carlos Torres, age 19, also from Elkhart, Indiana, Gavin James Herremans, age 25, and Christopher James Johnson, age 29, both from Cass County, Michigan, entered guilty pleas to reduced charges.
Humberto Mota remains at large.
The charges contained on the two-count First Superseding Indictment, alleged that Humberto Mota and Christopher James Johnson conspired with others to import over 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana into the United States from Mexico. Count Two charges Humberto Mota and the other eight defendants with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute the over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana from an unknown date in 2007 and continuing through January 28, 2008.
The investigation of these defendants began on January 23, 2008, when United States Customs and Border Protection Officers at the Port of Baltimore, Maryland, discovered the marijuana concealed within 193 pieces of vase-shaped Mexican pottery. The ultimate consignee of the shipment was an Elkhart, Indiana business associated with Humberto Mota.
On January 27, 2008, two special agents from the ICE Baltimore Office posing as employees of a commercial trucking company, delivered the shipment of marijuana-filled pottery to a warehouse in Edwardsburg, Michigan. At the warehouse, the agents met with Herremans, Roberto Mota, Hildalgo, Herrera-Espinoza, Torres, Sandoval, and a juvenile, whose initials are JME. Herremans signed for the shipment using a fictitious name, and the others unloaded the delivery truck and placed the marijuana-filled pottery in two U-Haul trucks. All were apprehended as they tried to leave the warehouse with the marijuana-filled pottery. Several, including Herremans, tried to flee to avoid apprehension. Herremans is a United States citizen, and Sandoval is a legal non-resident alien from Mexico. Roberto Mota, Hildalgo, Herrera-Espinoza, Torres, and the juvenile are citizens of Mexico unlawfully here in the United States. ICE detainers have been placed on all the illegal aliens. Defendants Johnson and Ottman, both U.S. citizens, were not named in the original indictment that was returned on January 31, 2008, but were added to the First Superseding Indictment returned on March 27, 2008.
Defendants are scheduled to appear for sentencing in September and October 2008 on the following dates: Sandoval, September 2; Roberto Mota, September 12; Hildalgo, October 10; and Herrera-Espinoza, October 3. All face a mandatory minimum of ten years in prison and maximum of life imprisonment, followed by at least five years of supervised release. Juan Carlos Torres is scheduled to be sentenced on September 4, 2008. He faces a maximum sentence of 36 months. Gavin Herremans, who faces a maximum sentence of 48 months, is scheduled to be sentenced on September 19, 2008. Christopher Johnson, who faces mandatory minimum sentence of five years and maximum of 40 years in prison, will be sentenced on September 26th.
“This investigation is an example of ICE's continued pursuit of organizations engaged in the international smuggling and distribution of commercial quantities of illicit drugs. ICE will continue to utilize its broad authority and expertise in dismantling these criminal groups as part of its overall strategy of helping ensure the integrity of our nation's borders and to help keep illegal drugs off of our streets.”
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian P. Lennon. Copies of the First Superseding Indictment and the Superseding Information are attached.
The charges in the First Superseding Indictment pending against Humberto Mota are merely accusations, and Humberto Mota is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
END
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