U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced the return of a Superseding Indictment charging Houston Police Officer NOE JUAREZ, 46, and Mexican citizen SERGIO GRIMALDO, 32, with conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine hydrochloride. JUAREZ is additionally charged with conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. The Superseding Indictment was returned on April 2, 2015 and recently unsealed. This Superseding Indictment is a product of an ongoing investigation. Both defendants are presently in custody.

If convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, each defendant faces a sentence of ten years to life imprisonment, followed by a minimum of five years of supervised release, and a $10,000,000 fine. If convicted of conspiracy to possess a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, JUAREZ faces a maximum of twenty years’ imprisonment, followed by a maximum of three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Polite reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendants must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) offices in New Orleans and Houston, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) in Houston, and the Houston Police Department Internal Affairs Division in investigating this matter and thanked the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas for their assistance. Assistant United States Attorney John F. Murphy is in charge of the prosecution.