Thread: INDIANA: Cocaine dealer gets 40 years

Cocaine dealer gets 40 years
Illegal immigrant had prior offenses

NEWS staff report

An illegal immigrant who kept changing his name, but finally confessed to selling cocaine to undercover officers, was sentenced Thursday to 40 years with the Indiana Department of Correction.

Lazaro Rodriquez, 33, of Shelbyville, was sentenced on charges related to three Class A felony cocaine deals, which occurred on Sept. 10, 11 and 16, 2006, at the Martin Estates apartment complex, 2301 Raleigh Blvd., said Shelby County Prosecutor Kent Apsley, who tried the case for the state.

Because of several aggravating circumstances, Apsley argued to the court that Rodriguez should receive a lengthy prison sentence for his crimes. The prosecutor said that Rodriquez was in the country illegally and that this was not a single crime, but three separate and distinct drug transactions.

During the third drug deal involving a co-defendant, a fight occurred in which the man grabbed one of the officers' guns. "All of this occurred within 50 feet of a playground," Apsley said.

The police officer was able to maintain control of his gun by wresting it back from the man, but one of the officers was injured during the scuffle, Apsley said.

Over the course of the case, Rodriquez gave authorities several different identities as the need arose. When a background investigation turned up several prior convictions for "Larzaro Rodriquez," he again claimed he was someone else, including saying that he was "Eduardo Vazquez-Santiago."

"It gets a little frustrating to hear a defendant argue about his lack of criminal history, when the guy just keeps changing his name until his hits on one with no record," Apsley said.

After Shelby Circuit Court Judge Charles D. O'Connor Jr. sentenced Rodriguez to 40 years in prison, Apsley said he was pleased with the outcome of the case.

"Obviously, we have taken a serious drug dealer off of the streets," Aspley said. "This case illustrates the inherent danger in the illicit drug trade. At any given time, things can go bad and somebody can get hurt. We are just lucky in this case that the officer was not seriously injured and that no innocent children were harmed."

Apsley praised the Shelby County Drug Task Force officers for putting together a solid and professional case. "By the very nature of their work, they do not receive the recognition they deserve for the job they do or the dangers they face every day," Apsley said.

http://www.shelbynews.com/main.asp?Sect ... M=61703.26

Finger prints should give his history. Illegals use different names. It is impossible to tell what their real names are. No wonder the children have a problem.

But with diligence the fingerprints would eventually create a list of the names he is using. It might also provide the names of victims of stolen identity.