Former restaurant owner pleads guilty in $1 million meth case
BY DAVID HARPER World Staff Writer
Friday, January 04, 2013
A man who has owned and operated local restaurants pleaded guilty Friday in a federal methamphetamine case and agreed to forfeit $1 million that prosecutors say are proceeds of the crime.
Francisco “Frank” Olmos Munoz Sr. admitted that he possessed and planned to sell more than 5 kilograms of methamphetamine on Nov. 30, when he was arrested by Tulsa police officers and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
DEA Special Agent Anthony Vaughn testified Dec. 13 that the investigation began with a traffic stop on Nov. 30 in which Jose Martin Sierra Garcia, 55, was found in possession of about 5 pounds of methamphetamine in pure “ice” form.
Sierra subsequently told authorities that he was keeping 26 more packages of the drug for Olmos at his apartment in the 71st Street and Yale Avenue area, Vaughn testified.
Olmos, who is in his mid-50s, was arrested when he picked up the drugs at the apartment on Nov. 30, Vaughn said.
The methamphetamine is worth more than $300,000 and was “fronted” to Olmos by a source in Mexico, Vaughn testified.
Olmos was indicted under seal Dec. 3, and the charge became public when he was arraigned Dec. 7.
U.S. District Judge James Payne is scheduled to sentence Olmos on March 28.
By law, Olmos could receive anything from 10 years to life in prison. His attorney, Creekmore Wallace, estimated Friday that sentencing guidelines could call for a prison sentence in the 13- to 17-year range.
Olmos, who lists a Beggs address, had been involved in the local restaurant business for nearly 20 years, most recently operating El Mojito Mexican restaurant in Broken Arrow.
Wallace said in December that Olmos “got upside down” with his finances in recent years. Assistant U.S. Attorney Allen Litchfield has previously told the court the evidence suggests that Olmos went broke and got involved in drug trafficking as a result.
A similar possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine indictment against Sierra was unsealed on Dec. 13. That charge is still pending.
Associated Images:
Francisco “Frank” Olmos Munoz Sr.
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