Mexican native receives 141/2 years
He pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine
SAN JOSE >> A 36-yearold Mexican native who crossed the border illegally in search of a better paying job to help his impoverished family but ended up running drugs has been ordered to serve more than 14½ years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Handed down Monday, the sentence follows Raul Monjardin-Iribe’s guilty plea in December to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine and one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
The 175-month term ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila was closer to the 108135 months requested by Monjardin-Iribe’s attorney, Allen Schwartz, than the 262 months sought by prosecutors.
Monjardin-Iribe made his way from Sinaloa, Mexico, to Long Beach in May 2014 and initially found work as a kitchen helper making $9 an hour. He later moved to San Jose, where he took a job as a tree trimmer and then accepted an offer to “make a lot of money” running drugs from Southern California to San Jose, according to court documents.
“I started that business out of need, and now my family is paying the consequences: they don’t have anything to eat and I cannot help them,” the firsttime offender and father of four wrote in a letter to Davila asking for leniency.
“My wife does not work because there are no jobs in the little ranch where she lives,” he continued.
In October 2015, a federal grand jury indicted Monjardin-Iribe and seven others in connection with a drug trafficking conspiracy. Authorities said 10 kilograms of cocaine was found inside an air compressor seized from a car Monjardin-Iribe was stopped driving the previous month.
Monjardin-Iribe also admitted to conspiring with others to distribute 5 kilograms or more of a mixture containing cocaine and distributing one kilogram of cocaine to one of his coconspirators and co-defendants, Jesus Bueno-Mora, according to court documents.
After the compressor was seized and before he was arrested, MonjardinIribe called an unindicted co-conspirator and asked him to “clear out” a home on the 300 block of N. First Street in San Jose, according to court documents. His brother, Leobardo Monjardin-Iribe, was spotted leaving the residence and found with two handguns and 7.9 kilograms of methamphetamine.
Alleging that Raul Monjardin-Iribe essentially obstructed justice and was in “constructive possession” of the firearms, prosecutors said a nearly 22-year sentence was warranted.
In addition to the prison term, Davila ordered Raul Monjardin-Iribe to serve five years of supervised release. He has been in custody since Sept. 19, 2015, according to the U.S Attorney’s Office.