Tucson Region
4 in big drug-smuggling ring are convicted; 3 are fugitives
By Kim Smith
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.14.2008 Four men accused of being members of one of the county's largest-ever drug-trafficking rings were convicted Friday following a six-week trial and two days of deliberations.
Two of the men never attended the trial, having absconded months ago. Another didn't show up for the verdict and had a warrant issued for his arrest.
The fourth man will be sentenced by Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Hantman July 18 and is facing decades in prison.
David Sosa-Hernandez was convicted of 16 of 17 counts, Sylvester Alfonso Mitchell was convicted of four of four counts and Ricardo H. Varela was convicted of five of five counts, said Deputy Pima County Attorney Richard Wintory.
Vicente Murrieta Melendez was convicted of three of four charges, Wintory said.
All four men were indicted with 31 others on money-laundering, conspiracy and drug charges in August 2004 after an investigation by the Counter Narcotics Alliance.
Sosa-Hernandez, along with his aunt, Maria Isabel Dominguez, located sources of marijuana in Mexico and then brokered deals between those sources and Jamaican drug traffickers, Wintory told jurors during opening statements May 8.
Members of the Counter Narcotics Alliance spent months monitoring three of Dominguez's telephone lines and determined that Murrieta Melendez was a member of the Dominguez organization, Varela was a supplier and Mitchell was transporting or selling the drug.
Detectives testified the alliance began investigating Dominguez after getting a tip. During the investigation, it was learned the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was also investigating the Dominguez organization, and the two agencies teamed up.
Dominguez had been scheduled to go to trial along with the four, but she pleaded guilty to money-laundering at the start of the trial and agreed to serve 18 years in prison.
Sosa-Hernandez and Mitchell were tried in absentia because both are fugitives with warrants out for their arrests.
Varela attended the entire trial, but when he didn't show up Friday for the verdicts, Hantman issued a warrant for his arrest, Wintory said.
If ever caught, Mitchell and Varela face decades in prison, Wintory said. Sosa-Hernandez could spend the rest of his life in prison if he's caught.
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