Thread: 3 of 4 illegal immigrant drug defendants convicted

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3 of 4 illegal immigrant drug defendants convicted

PUBLISHED: December 9, 2006

By Jameson Cook
Macomb Daily Staff Writer

Three of four defendants were convicted Friday of trying to sell 22 pounds of cocaine, in what an assistant prosecutor called "one of the biggest" drug dealer convictions on state charges in county history.


Rigoberto Cardenas-Borbon, 36, Antonio Perez-Chica, 30, both illegal immigrants from Mexico, and Hugo Moran-Dopico, 49, an Arizona resident with Detroit connections, were found guilty of delivery of more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine by a Macomb County Circuit Court jury following a 2-week trial. They will be sentenced by Judge Peter J. Maceroni on Jan. 17.

Jose Martinez, 33, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was found innocent, although he remains in custody because he may face federal charges after he admitted to driving four illegal immigrants from Arizona to Detroit.

"This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, conviction on state charges of a drug dealer in Macomb County," assistant Macomb prosecutor Jurij Fedorak, who prosecuted the case, referring to Cardenas-Borbon.

Police and prosecutors said the seizure of 10 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of $2 million to $3 million, on Interstate 94 in Roseville in April 2005 halted a test-run by a Mexican cartel of the Detroit drug market.

"This was their first trip here to start selling drugs in this area," said Terrence Mekoski, an Oakland County Sheriff's sergeant and head of the Oakland Macomb Interdiction Team. If successful selling the drugs here through Moran-DoPico, the cartel would have delivered drug loads three or four times more than the 10 kilos, or even more, Fedorak and Mekoski said.

Mekoski said Rigoberto Cardenas-Borbon was a major player in the cartel and normally would not be in such close contact with the drugs but was overseeing establishing a new market.

Cardenas-Borbon's brother, Jamie Cardenas-Borbon, was at a higher level and last May was captured by federal drug agents with 40 kilograms of cocaine in Pennsylvania, Mekoski and Fedorak said. Jamie Cardenas-Borbon remains in federal custody, they said.

Key to the conviction was the testimony of Candelario Herrera, 35, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, who was driving the black Ford Explorer that held the drugs in a secret compartment when it was stopped April 26, 2005.

Herrera received a promise that the prosecutor's office will recommend a 7-year term at the minimum end, although Judge Maceroni will not be bound by that recommendation when he is sentenced at a later date. Herrera also may receive further consideration in possibly assisting federal drug agencies.

Under sentencing guidelines, the lowest possible sentence the other defendants will face will be 10 years, attorneys said. The maximum penalty is life in prison.

The defendants will likely be deported after they serve their sentences.

Attorneys for the four defendants during the trial attacked Herrera's credibility, and jurors told attorneys that they didn't believe some of his testimony. But Fedorak said jurors were able to piece together parts of his accusations with other evidence, such as telephone records.

"It was a very complicated and very circumstantial case," Fedorak said. "That was a very intelligent jury we had."

During closing argument, Fedorak placed the 10 bricks of powdered cocaine wrapped in clear plastic on the top of a railing in front of the jury.

Martinez's attorney, Mark Haddad, said his client was found innocent because there was no evidence he knew the drugs were in the Explorer, which was driven from Arizona to Detroit by Martinez and Perez-Chica. Martinez believed he was only helping transport four illegal immigrants to the Midwest, Haddad said.

"Martinez was Perez-Chica's friend," he said. "He had no knowledge of the dope. I'm not sure that Perez-Chica had knowledge of the dope, but the jury decided otherwise."

While phone records tied the other defendants to Herrera, no records showed calls between Martinez and Herrera or the other defendants, Haddad said.

Martinez contributed $300 to purchase the Explorer, but "it was clear that Perez-Chica had control of that vehicle," Haddad said.

Cy Pessini, attorney for Moran-DoPico, said contributing to his client's conviction were the telephone records and fact that Moran-DoPico was in a Dodge Durango with Cardenas-Borbon when it was stopped by police two days after Herrera was arrested. No drugs or large sums of money were found in the Durango.

Herrera and Cardenas-Borbon had driven the Durango to Detroit from April 24 to 26, and it was stopped the morning of April 26 by police, also in the St. Louis area, for a traffic violation, searched and released.

The Durango at that time was "about an hour" behind the Explorer on the way to Detroit, Herrera testified.

Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Mekoski conducted surveillance of the Red Roof Inn in Roseville, and saw Herrera dropped off at the motel about 7 p.m., get the keys from Perez-Chica and Martinez and drive away. Mekoski stopped the Explorer on I-94 near 12 Mile Road shortly after 8 p.m., and a drug-sniffing dog reacted to the vehicle.

Fedorak said Cardenas-Borbon was "fronting" the drugs to Moran-DoPico to determine whether Moran-DoPico, who had connections in southwest Detroit, could provide enough dealers to sell the drugs.

Herrera, who Fedorak said worked as a broker for the drug ring, and Moran-DoPico, who had been living in Arizona, traveled by airplane to Detroit to talk to potential dealers, according to evidence.

When he was arrested, Herrera was on his way to meet Moran-DoPico at a gas station on Livernois, and then was to drive the vehicle to southwest Detroit to meet other connections, Herrera testified.

OMIT was formed several years ago to focus on drug trafficking. Members include the Macomb and Oakland county sheriff's offices, Sterling Heights Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI.

"This is one of the biggest drug dealers we've taken down," Mekoski said.

Because all of the defendants except Moran-DoPico did not understand English well, interpreters rotated translating English into Spanish, while the defendants listened with headsets.

Each defendant had his own attorney, all but Cardenas-Borbon's was court-appointed.

22 pounds of coke- how many of our kids lives would that ruin?
Just more people sneaking in to make a better life.

Now its up to the Judge how long they go to the graybar hotel, federal
guidelines minimum 7 years- lets hope the judge gets up on the RIGHT side of the bed on sentencing day. sent a message to the south of the border scum. Our law enforcement did there job now the Judge must
follow suit.

wonder if you can email a federal judge?

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