Cocaine Traffickers Sentenced to 235 Months in Prison on Drug Charges

WASHINGTON – Rene Oswald Cobar, a Guatemalan national, and Luis Angel Gonzalez-Largo, a Colombian national, were each sentenced today to 235 months in prison on federal drug charges, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced. Cobar and Gonzalez-Largo were sentenced by U.S. District Judge James C. Mahan for the District of Nevada.

Cobar and Gonzalez-Largo were indicted on May 5, 2004, in the District of Nevada for conspiracy to distribute cocaine. They were again indicted on Jan. 24, 2007, in the District of Nevada with conspiracy to import five kilograms or more of cocaine into the United States. Cobar was also charged with additional offenses, including conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

According to evidence presented at trial, in 2004 the DEA learned that Cobar, Gonzalez-Largo and other individuals were planning to transport 400 kilograms of cocaine from Central America to a buyer in Las Vegas, who was an undercover law enforcement agent. Evidence presented at trial showed that Cobar acted as the broker for the undercover buyer and Gonzalez-Largo was identified as the Colombian supplier of the cocaine. In various recorded phone conversations, the defendants discussed that Gonzalez-Largo had 800 kilograms of cocaine in Panama. The defendants’ efforts to transport the cocaine failed because of law enforcement efforts in Panama, and the defendants’ arrests on unrelated charges.

Evidence presented in court showed that Cobar was also involved in a conspiracy to transport heroin from Central America to Las Vegas.

After a 10-day jury trial, Gonzalez-Largo was convicted on Feb. 18, 2008, of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States. Cobar elected to waive his right to a jury trial and proceeded with a bench trial. On Feb. 23, 2008, Judge Mahan found Cobar guilty of conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, and of the additional charges of conspiracy to import heroin into the United States and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin.

These cases were prosecuted by Trial Attorneys John Gillies and Steven May of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), who were assisted by NDDS paralegal Arianne Tice. The investigation in this case was led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, in close cooperation with local Nevada law enforcement from the Henderson, Nev., Police Department and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.