http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_4876751

Feds seek man who skipped sentencing
Article Launched: 12/21/2006 12:00:00 AM MST

Portillo A Mexican man arrested last year during a raid on a Socorro stash house and later convicted on drug charges failed to appear at his sentencing this month and is considered a fugitive, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said.

The U.S. Marshals Service is looking for Roberto Portillo Alvidrez, 47, who was found guilty in September by a federal jury in El Paso of conspiracy and possessing with the intent to distribute 491 pounds of marijuana. He was to be sentenced earlier this month. He faces up to 10 years in prison. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Portillo and four associates -- Rafael Manzo Avalos, 58, Sergio Lopez Contreras, 33, and Andres Alarcon Castañeda, 30, ( all Mexican nationals) and Lorenzo Villa, 42, a U.S. citizen -- were arrested last December at a house on the 9900 block of Flaca Street in Socorro. In the operation, ICE agents and sheriff's deputies seized more than 491 pounds of marijuana, more than 2 pounds of cocaine, $42,647 in U.S. currency, and three vehicles, ICE officials said.

Lopez, Alarcon and Villa pleaded guilty. Lopez and Alarcon were sentenced to 30 months in prison. Villa was sentenced to 10 years.
Manzo, who was convicted of possessing with the intent to distribute more than 2 pounds of cocaine in addition to the marijuana charges, was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison. He had been deported to Mexico in 1990 and arrested again in the United States in 1991. He had been convicted on heroin charges and sentenced to more than 96 months in prison. Manzo also has a criminal record in California.

All men, except Villa, will be placed in deportation proceedings after they finish their sentences, ICE officials said.

Portillo is 5-foot-9, weighs 210 pounds, and has graying brown hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information may call the U.S. Marshals Service at 534-6018 or ICE's tip line at (866) 347-2423.