Francisco C. Arias and Eder J. Cortez-Zelaya Sentenced to Prison in Ice Trafficking Case

          SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendants FRANCISCO C. ARIAS and EDER J. CORTEZ-ZELAYA, who were convicted at the trial of U.S. v. Francisco Arias, Eder Cortez-Zelaya and Corinna Concepcion, in the District Court of Guam, were sentenced today.

          FRANSISCO ARIAS, age 42, an undocumented alien and citizen from Mexico, was sentenced by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, to life imprisonment for count one, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine (ice), after taking into consideration his role of threatening one individual; 20 years for count two, conspiracy to commit money laundering; and five years each for counts 4 and 5, unlawful use of the mail to facilitate the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. All sentences are to be served concurrently.

          EDER J. CORTEZ-ZELAYA, age 34, a naturalized U.S. Citizen originating from El Salvador, was sentenced by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood to 292 months for count one, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine (ice), 20 years for count two, conspiracy to commit money laundering; and five years each for counts 4 and 5,unlawful use of the mail to facilitate the conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. All sentences are to be served concurrently.

          Both Francisco ARIAS and CORTEZ-ZELAYA were determined to be organized leaders, who conspired with 15 co-defendants, to have packages of methamphetamine (ice) transported from Las Vegas, Nevada and received on Guam.  All of the co-defendants have been sentenced.

            This OCDETF case involved federal agents and local law enforcement officers of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Guam Police Department (GPD), Guam Customs and Quarantine Agency (GCQA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), U.S. National Oceanic Atmosphere Administration (NOAA), and U.S. Coast Guard Criminal Investigative Service (CGIS).

            The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clyde Lemons, Jr.