“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
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A former Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy has pleaded guilty to transporting over 100 pounds of fentanyl and been sentenced to probation in California. In September 2023, while off-duty, he was caught carrying more than 100 pounds of fentanyl on the 10-freeway near Calimesa, California. He resigned from the Sheriff’s Department following his arrest.
“After a K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics within the vehicle, a search was conducted,” sheriff’s Capt. Rob Roggeveen said. “Located in the vehicle was (104) pounds of packaged fentanyl pills, or M30s. Also located in the vehicle was a loaded handgun.”
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department previously said in a court affidavit that investigators intercepted Oceguera-Rocha’s phone calls and learned he was planning to travel to an “identified narcotic stash location” in Victorville.
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Operation Hotline Bling
Rocha had been one of more than a dozen people under surveillance as part of Operation Hotline Bling, a joint federal-local law enforcement crackdown on the Sinaloa drug trafficking network based in Mexico.
George Alexander Aranda, Edwin Michael Alva and Christopher Arreola Alvarado were indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute at least 400 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine.
Alvarado operated and maintained a drug stash in Perris, California the court documents alleged, and the two men would package fentanyl at the stash house for shipping through the mail. Aranda and Alva would take the packaged fentanyl and mail it to customers from post offices in and around Riverside County, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecution’s Objection
“We did object, on the record in open court, to the defendant making a plea to the court…based on the defendant taking advantage of a position of public trust,” said John Hall, a spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Gunn dismissed sentence-enhancing allegations of perpetrating a drug-related offense while armed and imposed a 4-year term of imprisonment, which would have been served in county jail because the offenses were categorized as “non-violent.”
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Time Served & Probation
After factoring state credits intended to reduce overcrowding in correctional facilities and adding the time Rocha had already spent behind bars, the defendant’s sentence was stayed, and he was released from the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on Thursday, January 30. He is now on mandatory supervision for 16 months.