Tulsa World: 13th and final defendant in drug ring is sentenced

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13th and final defendant in drug ring is sentenced
It's one of the biggest narcotics-trafficking cases in the area.

By SARA PLUMMER World Staff Writer
Published: 8/4/2009 3:40 AM
Last Modified: 8/4/2009 4:38 AM

The last defendant in custody in a major international narcotics smuggling ring was sentenced Monday in federal court in Tulsa.

Holly Jill Rodrigues-Munoz, 30, of Wann was the 13th defendant to be sentenced in one of the biggest drug-trafficking busts in northeastern Oklahoma, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

She was sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison with an additional five years of supervised release. She also was ordered to pay a $1.5 million judgment.

An indictment alleges that from March 2001 to March 2008, the organization imported more than 22 pounds of marijuana, 110 pounds of cocaine and 110 pounds of methamphetamine from Mexico across the U.S. border near El Paso, Texas, to Tulsa and Kansas City, Mo.

Drug traffickers Jose Saenz and Moises Gaeta of Juarez, Mexico, provided the drugs to brothers Manual and Mario Bonilla, prosecutors said.

The brothers then used relatives and acquaintances in the Tulsa area to transport, store and distribute the drugs and launder money.

The defendants also smuggled guns from the United States into Mexico, used guns to protect drug shipments, and used several communication devices such as cell phones to conduct operations, prosecutors said.

The 13 defendants have been sentenced over the last two months to as much as 27 years in federal prison each.

Defendants Manuel Bonilla, 37, and Omar Cruz, 28, both of Mexico, are still at large.

The

defendants and their sentences are:

Cecilia Lorena Bonilla, 21, of Tulsa: three years probation

Estela Bonilla, 39, address unknown: one year and six months in prison and three years supervised release

Francisca Bonilla-Holguin, 64, of Mexico: five years and three months in prison and three years supervised release

Mario Bonilla, 24, of Tulsa: nine years in prison, five years supervised release and a $1.5 million judgment

Miguel Chavez, 42, of Fort Worth, Texas: one year in prison and five years supervised release

Moises Gaeta, 26, of Mexico: 27 years in prison, five years supervised release and a $1.5 million judgment

Felix McVay, 52, of Haskell: 10 years in prison, five years supervised release and a $1.5 million judgment

Michelle Moreno, 28, of Tulsa: three years probation

Victor Olivas-Poras, 37, of Kansas City, Mo.: 20 years in prison, five years supervised release and a $1.5 million judgment

Holly Rodrigues-Munoz, 30, of Wann: three years and 10 months in prison, five years supervised release and a $1.5 million judgment

Jose Luis Saenz, 37, of Mexico: 24 years and five months in prison, five years supervised release and a $1.5 million judgment

Jose Silos, 49, of Mexico: five years and one month in prison and five years supervised release

Selene Soto, 32, of Odessa, Texas: three years probation

Acting U.S. Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward praised the law enforcement agencies involved in the 2 1/2-year investigation.

The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the IRS Criminal Investigation Division; the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Tulsa Police Department were all involved.

Sara Plummer 581-8465
sara.plummer@tulsaworld.com By SARA PLUMMER World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment tfromtulsa, Tulsa (8/4/2009 6:22:25 PM) These people were only doing the jobs that lazy American drug traffickers don't want to do.
	Report Comment owen, Tulsa (8/4/2009 6:41:26 PM) Funniest comment I've read in days, tfromtulsa!
	Report Comment :), (8/5/2009 11:20:24 AM) u.s. prisons are full of lazy american drug offenders. Half the defendants in this case are lazy americans. Did you even read the article?
	Report Comment BettyRubble, (8/5/2009 11:38:53 AM) Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..seems to be a nearly consistent thread in all these defendents. Notice the LIBS are usually a no-show when "willing workers" are involved?
	Report Comment tfromtulsa, Tulsa (8/5/2009 6:11:43 PM) :) - The article's frequent use of the words "Mexico" and "of Mexico" in reference to the defendants led me to believe that some of these people are Mexican nationals, and therefore, not Americans. Hmm.
	Report Comment :), (8/6/2009 9:12:17 AM) If you could read, you would see in bold; the defendants names and where they hail from. Did you notice that half the offenders are from right here in the good ol' u.s. of a? Naaah, you probably didn't read past "Mexico" and "of Mexico" before you made an insipid comment.
	Report Comment tfromtulsa, Tulsa (8/6/2009 1:07:45 PM) :) - According to your own logic, half of the offenders are from Mexico. Let's see what you can do with that.

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