Tulare Meth Supplier Sentenced to 10 Years

FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and Immigration and Custom Enforcement Special Agent in Charge Mark Wollman announced today that Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii sentenced Rosario Omar Valencia-Arce, 32, an illegal alien from Sinaloa, Mexico, formerly residing in Tulare, to 10 years in prison for conspiring to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute crystal methamphetamine. Valencia-Arce pleaded guilty on March 29, 2010.

This case is the product of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation by ICE and the Southern Tri-County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force, composed of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE), Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Bakersfield Police Department, Tulare County Sheriffs Office, and Tulare Police Department. OCDETF is a focused interagency program investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Assistant United States Attorney Karen Escobar prosecuted this case.

According to court documents, this case was the result of a wiretap investigation conducted by DEA in Los Angeles. During the DEA wiretap, information was obtained which indicated that Valencia-Arce was a supplier of methamphetamine for Carlos Lopez-Lepe, who resided in Colorado. Follow-up investigation led to the seizure of two pounds of crystal methamphetamine from Lopez-Lepe after he was followed to Valencia-Arce’s residence in Tulare. In his plea agreement, Valencia-Arce admitted that he had supplied the drug to Lopez-Lepe, who was later convicted in Kern County Superior Court of possessing methamphetamine for sale and was sentenced to 16 months in state prison. Lopez-Lepe was also charged and convicted of separate unrelated drug trafficking activity in federal court in Nebraska and was sentenced to an additional 10 years in federal prison. In addition, Valencia-Arce’s wife, Guadalupe Valencia-Perez, 31, of Tulare, California, was also convicted in federal court in Fresno of possessing unlawfully produced identification documents following a search of their residence and has since been deported.

Upon completion of his sentence, Valencia-Arce is subject to deportation.