GWINNETT COUNTY
Twice-deported immigrant gets life in cocaine case
Associated Press

Monday, December 08, 2008

An illegal immigrant who was twice deported to Mexico for drug felonies has been sentenced to life in prison for taking part in a cocaine trafficking ring.

Federal prosecutors in Atlanta said Monday that Olivar Martinez-Blanco, 31, of Lawrenceville was convicted in September of acting as a lookout for a 35-pound cocaine shipment. Inside a stash house, agents found almost 1,000 pounds of marijuana, 35 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, five pounds of cocaine and several firearms.

U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said Martinez-Blanco, who was sentenced last week, “illegally re-entered the United States to traffic in cocaine.â€