PRESS RELEASE

CALIFORNIA TRUCK DRIVER SENTENCED ON FEDERAL DRUG CHARGES

Worcester, MA... A Los Angeles truck driver was convicted and sentenced on Thursday, March 30, 2006 in federal court on federal drug offenses.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Kenneth W. Kaiser, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New England; and June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New England, announced that ROMELIO SALAZAR-SALGUERO, age 39, formerly of Los Angeles, California, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV to one count of conspiracy to distribute over 100 grams of heroin, and two counts of distributing over 100 grams of heroin. At the same hearing, Judge Saylor sentenced SALAZAR-SALGUERO to 37 months in prison. SALAZARSALGUERO will be deported to Guatemala following the completion of his prison sentence.

At Thursday’s plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the Government’s evidence would have proven that on July 10, 2003, SALAZARSALGUERO
and co-conspirator David Gonzalez, distributed a half kilogram of heroin to members of the FBI drug task force at the King Arthur Motel in Chelsea, Massachusetts. SALAZAR-SALGUERO and Gonzalez had driven from California to Massachusetts in a tractor-trailer truck to deliver a truck load of produce and sold the heroin to task force undercover agents during their stop over in Chelsea. During the deal, Gonzalez handled the negotiations and the transaction while SALAZAR-SALGUERO acted as a look-out.

SALAZAR-SALGUERO and Gonzalez returned to Massachusetts on July 23, 2003 and arranged to sell another half kilogram of heroin to DEA task force members at the Massachusetts Turnpike rest area located in Charlton, Massachusetts. SALAZAR-SALGUERO and Gonzalez were arrested while delivering the heroin to the undercover task force members.

Gonzalez pleaded guilty on May 18, 2005 and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6, 2006, at 3:00 p.m. Gonzalez faces a minimum mandatory term of imprisonment of 5 years, and a maximum term of 40 years, to be followed by 4 years of supervised release, and a $2 million fine.

Both defendants have been in custody since their arrest on July 23, 2003.

The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Drug Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Drug Task Force. It is being prosecuted
by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Casey in Sullivan’s Worcester Office.

Press Contact: Christina Dilorio Sterling, (617) 748-3356