Riverside Sheriff Deputy Caught Smuggling 100 Lbs of Fentanyl Sentenced to Time Served & Probation

 "Socalj" for Borderland Beat

A former Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy has pleaded guilty to transporting over 100 pounds of fentanyl and been sentenced to probation in California. In September 2023, while off-duty, he was caught carrying more than 100 pounds of fentanyl on the 10-freeway near Calimesa, California. He resigned from the Sheriff's Department following his arrest.

"After a K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics within the vehicle, a search was conducted," sheriff's Capt. Rob Roggeveen said. "Located in the vehicle was (104) pounds of packaged fentanyl pills, or M30s. Also located in the vehicle was a loaded handgun."

Jorge Alberto Oceguera Rocha, now 26, was accused of smuggling fentanyl as a middleman for the Sinaloa Cartel. He would have been ensnared during a DEA and local Riverside police investigation into cartel trafficking in the eastern area of the county. 

Authorities said there was no indication he brought drugs into any of Riverside County's jails but transporting the narcotics for a larger organization.

He was hired by the department in April 2019 and had been assigned to the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning. 

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department previously said in a court affidavit that investigators intercepted Oceguera-Rocha's phone calls and learned he was planning to travel to an "identified narcotic stash location" in Victorville.

According to a Riverside police statement, "the DEA and Riverside police provided investigative leads to the Sheriff's Department, ultimately assisting in the arrest of the deputy." That arrest came after the US Attorney initially declined to file charges, resulting in his arrest by his own department.

The federal indictment was rejected by the AUSA’s office. This was likely due to Rocha's involvement in an ongoing investigation, entitled Operation Hotline Bling.

This prompted investigators from SIB to re-arrest Oceguera-Rocha and re-book him into a county jail with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office prepared to file charges to include possession of narcotics, transportation with the intent to distribute narcotics, weight enhancements for the narcotics (104 pounds of fentanyl), and possession of a firearm while in possession of narcotics.

Operation Hotline Bling

Rocha had been one of more than a dozen people under surveillance as part of Operation Hotline Bling, a joint federal-local law enforcement crackdown on the Sinaloa drug trafficking network based in Mexico.

The investigation began in March 2023. It was initiated by the DEA Riverside District Office and the Riverside Police Department with assistance from the US Postal Service. A total of 376 pounds of methamphetamine, 37.4 pounds of fentanyl, 600,000 fentanyl tablets, 1.4 kilograms of cocaine, and 7 firearms were recovered during the operation, according to Riverside police. 16 defendants were charged including former Sheriff's Deputy Rocha.

George Alexander Aranda, Edwin Michael Alva and Christopher Arreola Alvarado were indicted on charges of conspiracy to distribute at least 400 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine.

Alvarado operated and maintained a drug stash in Perris, California the court documents alleged, and the two men would package fentanyl at the stash house for shipping through the mail. Aranda and Alva would take the packaged fentanyl and mail it to customers from post offices in and around Riverside County, prosecutors alleged.

Rocha pleaded guilty last week to transportation of controlled substances and possession of controlled substances for sale. The weapons enhancement charge was dropped.

The plea was made directly to the judge, over the prosecutor's objection.

Prosecution's Objection

"We did object, on the record in open court, to the defendant making a plea to the court...based on the defendant taking advantage of a position of public trust," said John Hall, a spokesperson for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge David Gunn dismissed sentence-enhancing allegations of perpetrating a drug-related offense while armed and imposed a 4-year term of imprisonment, which would have been served in county jail because the offenses were categorized as “non-violent.”

Time Served & Probation

After factoring state credits intended to reduce overcrowding in correctional facilities and adding the time Rocha had already spent behind bars, the defendant's sentence was stayed, and he was released from the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on Thursday, January 30. He is now on mandatory supervision for 16 months.

Sources Borderland Beat, Borderland Beat, Desert Sun, Riverside.Gov, LA Times