Waipahu Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years’ Imprisonment for Federal Drug Offenses

HONOLULU—Mario Cesar Torres, age 57, of Waipahu, was sentenced today by United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright to 188 months’ imprisonment for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine as well as three additional counts of distributing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. A federal jury found Torres guilty of the four drug offenses in February 2013.

Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that Torres was found to be responsible for distributing 1,285 grams of actual methamphetamine from August 2010 through January 2011. According to evidence produced during the trial, during that time period, Torres delivered approximately one pound quantities of methamphetamine on two occasions and was the driver on a third transaction in which a passenger in his vehicle delivered approximately one pound of methamphetamine. Torres had faced a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment on each count.

The case was the result of a joint investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Honolulu Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Inciong handled the prosecution.