13 people sentenced for roles in drug operation in Western Pennsylvania, elsewhere

Thirteen people have been sentenced for their roles in a drug operation that took place partly in Western Pennsylvania.

The defendants were sentenced in federal court on charges of violating federal drug and money laundering laws in connection with a transnational criminal organization, the Department of Justice says.

Prosecutors alleged that the defendants conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine from about August 2021 to June 2023 in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

A federal wiretap obtained the quantities of the drugs the defendants distributed to others, the DOJ says.

Here are the defendants and their sentences:

• Jaime Ledesma, 27, Pueblos Unidos, Mexico, 210 months of imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release
• Jesus Lopez, 24, Phoenix, Ariz., 96 months of imprisonment to be followed by two years of supervised release
• Adrian Lopez Rivera, 24, Phoenix, Ariz., 36 months of imprisonment to be followed by two years of supervised release
• Luis Fentanes, 24, Phoenix, Ariz., 96 months of imprisonment, to be followed by four years of supervised release
• Diego Monarrez, 23, Phoenix, Ariz., 46 months of imprisonment to be followed by two years of supervised release
• Cesar Monarrez, 28, Maricopa, Ariz., 120 months of imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release
• Diamond Williams-Dorsey, 32, Phoenix, Ariz., time served to be followed by two years of supervised release
• Samuel Aguirre, 24, Phoenix, Ariz., 180 months of imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release
• Mohamed Kariye, 37, Kent, Wash., 60 months of imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release
• Donnell Collins, 30, Cleveland, Ohio, time served to be followed by two years of supervised release
• Jesus Aaron Garcia, 25, Phoenix, Ariz., 84 months of imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release
• Erivan Guerrero, 25, Phoenix, Ariz., 84 months of imprisonment to be followed by five years of supervised release
• Robert Foster, 28, Buckeye, Ariz., 120 months of imprisonment to be followed by four years of supervised release

Guerrero was also accused of conspiring to launder money obtained from drug trafficking from about May 2022 to March 2023, and providing money to promote drug trafficking from Mexico to the U.S.

The 13 defendants are among 35 people charged for participating in a domestic and international drug and money laundering conspiracy, the DOJ says.

Thirty-one of those 35 defendants have pleaded guilty or been convicted to date, with 23 now having been sentenced.

The case is part of the DOJ’s Operation Take Back America, targeting cartels, transnational criminal organizations and illegal immigration.

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