Month: December 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Gerado Gonzalez-Valencia, aka Lalo, 45, pleaded guilty today to international cocaine trafficking.

In April 2016, Uruguayan authorities arrested Gonzalez-Valencia at the request of the United States. He was extradited from Uruguay to the United States in May 2020.

According to court documents, between 2003 and April 2016, Gonzalez-Valencia was a leader of Los Cuinis, an international drug trafficking organization responsible for importing large quantities of cocaine from South America, Mexico, and elsewhere into the United States. Los Cuinis is closely aligned with the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), which is based in the State of Jalisco in Mexico. Together, Los Cuinis and CJNG form one of the largest, most dangerous, and prolific drug cartels in Mexico. They are responsible for trafficking significant quantities of illegal drugs into the United States and employing extreme violence to further that objective.

Gonzalez-Valencia is the brother of Los Cuinis leaders Abigael Gonzalez-Valencia and Jose Gonzalez-Valencia, and the brother-in-law of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, aka Mencho, the leader of CJNG. Jose Gonzalez-Valencia pleaded guilty to international cocaine trafficking in the District of Columbia earlier this month.  

Gonzalez-Valencia pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, knowing and intending that it would be imported into the United States. Gonzalez-Valencia is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6, 2023, and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is supported by the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

The DEA Los Angeles Field Division is investigating the case.

Acting Assistant Deputy Chief Kaitlin Sahni and Trial Attorneys Kate Naseef and Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section are prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance. 

The Justice Department thanks Uruguayan authorities for their assistance in securing the arrest and extradition of Gonzalez-Valencia.  

Source: United States Department of Justice

The Justice Department announced today it filed a complaint and proposed consent decree with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio to resolve allegations that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (ODRC) violated Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Title I of the ADA requires that employers provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities, including adjusting employee schedules, when it does not pose an undue hardship to the employer.

The lawsuit alleges that ODRC discriminated against a correctional officer on the basis of his disability, Type I diabetes, by failing to make reasonable accommodations to his known physical limitations. Specifically, the department’s lawsuit alleges that ORDC violated the ADA by denying the correctional officer’s request to work a day shift even though working that shift allowed him to manage his blood sugar levels and avoid damage to his health.

“Employees with disabilities should not have to sacrifice their health when workplace adjustments would avoid unnecessary health issues,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department remains committed to ensuring that people with disabilities receive necessary workplace adjustments to allow them to do their job.”

Under the terms of the consent decree, which must be approved by the court, ODRC will revise its policies and procedures regarding reasonable accommodations under the ADA and will train personnel on the requirements of Title I of the ADA. ODRC will also pay $50,000 in compensatory damages to the correctional officer and provide him with a day shift as a reasonable accommodation.

This matter is based on a referral from the Cleveland Field Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which conducted the initial investigation.

To read the complaint, please click here. For more information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. For more information on the Civil Rights Division’s Disability Rights Section, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TDD 800-514-0383) or visit www.ada.gov.

Source: United States Department of Justice

Following a week-long trial, former Police of Puerto Rico (POPR) Officer Jose Cartagena, 47, was convicted Tuesday for assaulting a juvenile victim and then attempting to cover up the abuse by falsifying an official police report and making misleading statements to a local official.

Evidence presented at trial established that, on Nov. 15, 2014, Cartagena, together with co-defendants Carlos Nieves, Jimmy Davis and Shylene Lopez, all former POPR officers, pursued C.C., the juvenile victim, in a police vehicle while C.C. fled from the defendants on his bicycle. During the pursuit, Nieves shot C.C. in the back. When the defendants caught up to C.C., C.C. complied with police commands to place his hands behind his back while lying face down on the ground.  Cartagena then held the victim’s hands together and struck the victim in the back of the head with a gun. The defendants then handcuffed C.C. and placed him in the backseat of the police car. On the way to the police station, Cartagena struck the handcuffed juvenile victim in the face multiple times. The defendants’ abuse required C.C. to seek treatment at a local hospital. 

Cartagena was charged with two counts of depriving C.C. of his constitutional rights under color of law for the assaults, and two counts of obstruction of justice, one for falsifying a police report by falsely stating that C.C. received his injuries when he fell of his bicycle, rather than from the defendants’ abuse, and one for making misleading statements to a local prosecutor about the incident. The jury found Cartagena guilty of all charges. Prior to trial, Nieves, Davis and Lopez pleaded guilty to violating C.C.’s constitutional rights during the incident.  

“All children in our country have the right to be free from excessive and unlawful use of force at the hands of law enforcement officers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This defendant was convicted for using a gun and his fists to violently assault a handcuffed boy in his custody, and then lying to officials about it. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously enforce our nation’s civil rights laws and hold accountable officers who break the law and undermine public trust.”

At sentencing, Cartagena faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. Sentencing will be set by the court on a future date. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow for the District of Puerto Rico and Special Agent in Charge Joseph González for the FBI San Juan Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI San Juan Field Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney José Contreras for the District of Puerto Rico and Trial Attorney Avner Shapiro of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section prosecuted the case.