Aug. 9, 2010

380 POUNDS OF POT SEND MEXICAN MAN TO FEDERAL PRISON

WICHITA, KAN. – Juan Ignacio Orona-Favela, 37, a citizen of Mexico, has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for trafficking in marijuana.

Orona-Favela pleaded guilty to one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. In his plea, he admitted that on Feb. 24, 2010, he and three other men tried to pick up a load of marijuana from a rental car parked at a hotel in Wichita.

The investigation began a few days earlier when agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement learned that a load of marijuana would be transported from New Mexico to Wichita. On Feb. 22, 2010, investigators in Las Cruces, N.M., inspected two vehicles and discovered 380 pounds of marijuana concealed in the gas tanks. They loaded the marijuana in a rental vehicle and took it to Wichita where they parked it at a hotel and waited to see who would come for it. Four men, including Orona-Favela, were arrested when they arrived to pick up the marijuana.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson prosecuted.