Garden Grove Man Sentenced in Cocaine Case

A man from Garden Grove, Calif., was one of two defendants sentenced in federal court this week to prison terms of six years after being convicted in separate cocaine distribution conspiracies.

William Ruiz-Vargas, 49, of Garden Grove and Jeffrey L. Will, 35, of Westpoint, Neb. were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Warren K. Urbom.

Both men, along with Pedro Serpa, were plaintiffs in a challenge of a federal sentencing statute that resulted in a ruling by Urbom that the statute’s sentencing guidelines were unconstitutional.

Urbom mostly ignored the guidelines, but followed other portions of the statute in sentencing Ruiz-Vargas on Thursday for selling 2.2 pounds of cocaine to Bradley Funk, a resident of Lincoln.

In addition to the prison term, Urbom sentenced Ruiz-Vargas to three years of supervised release to begin after he completes his prison term, and ordered him to perform 500 hours of unpaid community service.

Urbom followed much the same procedure Wednesday in sentencing Will for joining with Serpa in a conspiracy to bring a kilogram of cocaine from Florida to Lincoln for distribution.

Will was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service.