Charlotte drug traffickers sentenced to years in prison
Four men were sentenced to at least seven years and six months in prison after pleading guilty last week to trafficking drugs in Mecklenburg County.
The men were among 53 people convicted by the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Drug Team and sentenced by Superior Court Judge Robert Bell. Based on North Carolina’s structured sentencing laws, sentences ranged from probation to active prison terms, the district attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Santiago Arellano-Campos, 35, pled guilty to trafficking in methamphetamine by possession. He was arrested in February 2016 after federal agents learned drugs from Arizona were entering the county. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police detectives conducted surveillance at a suspected delivery site and found 16 pounds of methamphetamine in a door of Arellano-Campos’ car. He told police he arranged to pick up and sell the drug for $12,500 a kilogram and expected to earn $8,000 from the deal, according to the district attorney’s office.
Luis Garcia-Ruelas, 37, pled guilty to trafficking in heroin by transportation and attempted trafficking in heroin by possession. CMPD detectives were conducting surveillance of suspected heroin sellers when they saw Garcia-Ruelas leave his hotel room with luggage bags. Police found at least 200 grams of heroin and $14,000 in cash after Garcia-Ruelas let them search his room , prosecutors said.
Jose Martin Padilla-Desiderio, 22, pled guilty to trafficking in heroin by possession. He was arrested in May 2016 after police learned he was selling heroin out of his hotel room and found 300 grams of heroin.
Carolos Wilfrido Perez-Casillas, 25, pled guilty to trafficking in heroin by possession and also was sentenced to at least seven years and six months in prison.
Two other traffickers were sentenced to at least five years and 10 months in prison: Jonathan Campos-Lopez, 20, after pleading guilty to trafficking in heroin by possession and Juan Sanchez-Villanueva, 40, after pleading guilty to trafficking in heroin by transportation.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Charlotte drug traffickers sentenced to years in prison."