Man Police Call Major Dealer Is Convicted on Drug Charges

A Pacoima man who authorities said was a major drug dealer in the San Fernando Valley was convicted Friday of possessing more than 100 pounds of cocaine.

George (Danny) Trujillo, 28, faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 24 in Van Nuys Superior Court, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Mintz, who called Trujillo “one of the bigger dealers in the Valley.”

Jurors deliberated one day before convicting Trujillo of possessing 54 kilograms of the drug when police apprehended him on July 12, 1989, at the former Registry Hotel in Universal City.

Trujillo was also convicted of one count of possessing more than $100,000 used in drug trafficking.

Undercover police officers testified that they were on a routine stakeout for drug traffickers when they arrested Trujillo, who they believed was a drug dealer.

The drugs and $207,000 in cash were discovered in Trujillo’s room, the officers said.

On the stand, Trujillo said the drugs and cash belonged to a friend and that he was hiding out at the hotel from police who wanted to question him about a robbery, an assault and other incidents.

Convicted of the same two counts Friday was Tammy Jimenez, 28, who was with Trujillo at the hotel, police said.

Jimenez could be imprisoned for 20 years when she is sentenced by Judge John Fisher on Jan. 9.

Trujillo is already serving an eight-year prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter for the slaying of Anthony Silva, 29, two days before his arrest at the hotel.