OXNARD : 2 Men Convicted of Selling Cocaine

Two Oxnard men were convicted Thursday of selling nearly nine pounds of cocaine to a Drug Enforcement Administration informant.

After a three-day trial, a Ventura County Superior Court jury deliberated about six hours before convicting Refujio Arballo, 41, of Oxnard and Martin Sanchez, 31, of possession of cocaine for sale and transporting cocaine for sale. They also were convicted of a special allegation that more than three pounds of cocaine was involved.

Arballo and Sanchez were arrested July 14 at a motel in Ventura and were indicted by the county grand jury two weeks later. According to grand jury testimony, the two men brought four kilograms of cocaine--about 8.8 pounds--to a motel room to sell to the DEA informant for $20,000 per kilo.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory G. Phillips said Arballo faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison. Sanchez faces eight years and eight months because he was on probation for a prior cocaine-possession conviction, Phillips said. Judge Lawrence Storch scheduled sentencing for Jan. 19.