On Friday, two illegal immigrants were found guilty in federal court on possession of heroin with intent to distribute and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
Gerard Ortiz Mendez, Tinoco Nieto Silviano and Miguel Angel Camarillo were arrested in March and originally charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute after agents with the Columbus-Lowndes Metro Narcotics Unit raided the immigrants’ 1601 College St. home.
All three men are Mexican nationals, living illegally in the U.S. at the time of the March raid. Agents discovered what they believed to be more than five kilos of cocaine in the men’s possession. However, when the drugs were sent to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s crime lab, the packaged bricks were determined to include both cocaine and heroin. The heroin totaled 1 1/2 kilos (3.1 pounds) with an estimated street value of $1 million.
Mendez and Silviano were found guilty on Friday. Camarillo previously pleaded guilty. The three will serve time in a federal high-security prison. With the amount of drugs seized, the illegal immigrants are facing a minimum of 20 years in the U.S. prison system. They will be deported when they have served their sentences.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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