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Press Release

California Man Sentenced to 22 Years in Prison for Cocaine Trafficking

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Ohio

A California man was sentenced to more than 22 years in federal prison for trafficking cocaine.

Dwight Erwin Herrera, 40, was convicted by a jury in November of conspiracy to distribute and distribution of cocaine greater than five kilograms. Herrera and others were arrested in Cleveland on Dec. 1, 2012, with approximately 10 kilograms of cocaine that had been transported to Cleveland from California, according to court documents.

Herrera is one of eight defendants who were indicted and convicted as part of this conspiracy. The group was responsible for the distribution of more than 50 kilograms of cocaine in Ohio, according to court documents.

The investigation into this conspiracy led to the subsequent indictments in federal and state court of an additional 23 people who have been convicted of participating in a drug conspiracy.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert F. Corts and Margaret Sweeney following an investigation by the Northern Ohio Law Enforcement Task Force. The NOLETF is a task force comprised of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cleveland Division of Police, Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority, Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office, Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the police departments of Cleveland Heights, Euclid, Lakewood, the Regional Transit Authority, Westlake and Shaker Heights. The NOLETF is also one of the initial Ohio High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area initiatives, which supports and helps coordinate numerous Ohio drug task forces in their efforts to eliminate or reduce drug trafficking in Ohio.

Updated March 18, 2015