Yuman sentenced for flying millions in drugs
September 19, 2011 4:19 PM
BY JAMES GILBERT - SUN STAFF WRITER

A Yuma man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison for flying a private airplane loaded with millions of dollars in drugs from Yuma to New Jersey.

The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it was the largest general aviation heroin seizure the agency has made within the United States.

Lorenzo Alvarez, 43, had pleaded guilty to knowingly and intentionally distributing and possessing with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. U.S. District Judge Dickinson R. Debevoise imposed the 235-month sentence Monday in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, on Nov. 21, 2008, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) received information that a private plane would be arriving at Essex County Airport from Yuma loaded with narcotics.

After the plane landed, HSI special agents saw Alvarez putting three suitcases and two smaller bags into a rental car he had driven back to the plane. He then drove the car off the airport grounds.

Working with HSI special agents, an officer of the Fairfield Police Department conducted a traffic stop on the rental car. Alvarez provided written consent to search the vehicle. While in the back seat of a patrol car, he tried to hide a key to the suitcases.

The suitcases contained about 24 kilograms of heroin and 48 kilograms of cocaine woth millions of dollars. Law enforcement also recovered a narcotics ledger with Alvarez's handwriting from within the airplane.

In addition to the 235-month prison term, Debevoise sentenced Alvarez to five years of supervised release.

Read more: http://www.yumasun.com/articles/alvarez ... z1YRzMlcKN