Brothers sentenced in Green Bay’s largest cocaine bust

Two brothers were sentenced in federal court March 5 to six years in prison for their roles in what a federal prosecutor said was “the largest cocaine seizure in the [Drug Enforcement Administration] Green Bay division’s history.”

Pedro and Pablo Sifuentes Navarro were the first of four defendants sentenced in connection to the seizure. The brothers each pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine.

Sanjuana Montenegro Ochoa and Ruben Salgado-Espinoza pleaded guilty to the same charge. Salgado-Espinoza also pleaded guilty to an additional charge of illegally reentering the country after being deported.

Salgado-Espinoza and Pablo and Pedro Sifuentes Navarro were arrested by DEA agents April 22 after traveling to Green Bay from Rockford, Illinois, with 30 kilograms of cocaine, according to a plea agreement. The cocaine was hidden in a trap built inside a vehicle.

At the Sifuentes Navarro brothers’ sentencings March 5, U.S. District Court Judge Byron Conway noted the serious nature of the high quantity of drugs the operation was bringing to Green Bay. “It’s just a massive amount of cocaine,” Conway said.

Defense attorneys Lee Schuchart and Thomas Erickson – representing Pedro and Pablo Sifuentes Navarro, respectively – both argued their clients were couriers for Salgado-Espinoza.

“They were his helpers, they were his employees, if you will,” Schuchart said.

Neither Pablo nor Pedro Sifuentes Navarro had control over how much cocaine was being brought to Green Bay, their attorneys said; that was Salgado-Espinoza’s decision. The brothers’ culpability in the drug operation was minimal, their attorneys argued.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Duros argued the brothers were both an “integral part” of the operation. According to Duros, Pedro directly coordinated meetings with the DEA’s confidential source, conducted a 1-pound methamphetamine delivery and had direct communication with the confidential course in the 30-kilogram cocaine bust; Pablo traveled to Green Bay to vet the confidential source as a buyer, had operational knowledge of the organization and was a “very trusted confidant” of Salgado-Espinoza.

“Without [Pablo] and Pedro, Mr. Salgado[-Espinoza] could not run this operation,” Duros said.

How much is 30 kilograms of cocaine?

According to Duros, 1 kilogram of cocaine is equivalent to 1,000 street-level deals. The typical street dose is 1 to 5 grams, Duros said.

The drugs seized in this operation were pure cocaine, Duros said, which would typically be diluted or cut before being sold. Even before dilution, the seized cocaine would have constituted around 30,000 street-level deals, Duros said.

“This level of cocaine would support a dealers’ distribution habits for months and months and months,” Duros said. “It would have fueled an enormous downstream distribution.”

Duros said the seizure was the largest cocaine seizure in the DEA’s Green Bay division at least since they began tracking them.

Pablo and Pedro Sifuentes Navarro were born and raised in an area of Mexico marked by cartel violence, according to their attorneys. Pedro remembered a half-brother who was killed by the cartel and the regular practice of the cartel kidnapping children, Schuchart said.

The brothers were granted asylum and lived in the U.S. for years with no criminal record until they became involved with Salgado-Espinoza, their attorneys said.

Schuchart said Pedro initially agreed to deliver construction materials for Salgado-Espinoza but soon figured out he was actually delivering drugs. He was quickly advised that the operation was connected to the cartel, Schuchart said.

Once the brothers realized they were connected to the cartel, their attorneys argued, they feared what would happen to them or their families if they tried to leave.

“When Pedro finds out what he’s involved with here with Mr. Salgado, in his experience, what does the cartel do when you try to leave something?” Schuchart said. “They kill you, they kill your brother, they kill your family.”

Schuchart and Erickson said they weren’t excusing their clients’ conduct or trying to argue they weren’t culpable because of this, but said the fact added context to their clients’ thought processes and decision-making.

The attorneys both noted that the brothers earned an opportunity when they were granted asylum and that their likely deportations after their sentences were one of the biggest punishments for their actions; a sentiment Conway agreed with.

“In a lot of ways, I feel bad for you,” Conway said at Pablo’s sentencing. “I think that you honestly wish you could go back and undo this because the punishment of being deported is probably worse than anything that I can do. But this is just, you guys got yourselves involved in something really big and there has to be a punishment for it.”

Conway sentenced both Pedro and Pablo Sifuentes Navarro to six years in prison followed by five years on supervised release.