Former Fugitive Sentenced to Six Years for Role in 2012 Drug Trafficking Conspiracy

TUCSON, Ariz. – Oliver Jaramillo Brown, 34, of Tucson, was sentenced on Monday by United States District Judge Scott H. Rash to six years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release. Brown pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Cocaine and Methamphetamine on June 27, 2023. 

Brown was involved in a Nogales, Sonora-based drug trafficking conspiracy that used Tucson as a staging ground for distribution into the United States. Brown played numerous roles in the organization, including escorting loads of drugs driven into the United States by other conspirators, escorting loads of drugs to destinations in the United States, loading and unloading drugs from these vehicles, and assisting at a location where drugs were being stashed. Over the course of the government investigation, the United States seized more than 140 kilograms of cocaine, more than 60 kilograms of “ice” methamphetamine, over $1 million in bulk cash, and two firearms. On March 10, 2012, Brown fled to Mexico while the government was making arrests of the United States-based members of the conspiracy. Brown lived in Mexico for more than a decade before he attempted to return to the United States in late 2022 and was apprehended on the fugitive warrant in this case.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.
 

CASE NUMBER:           CR-14-1026-03-TUC-SHR
RELEASE NUMBER:    2024-043_Brown