U.S. Judge Sentences Bolivian Drug Kingpin to Maximum Prison Term

Bolivian drug kingpin Jorge Roca Suarez was sentenced Monday to more than 35 years in prison, the maximum term allowed under federal guidelines.

Roca, 42, convicted in Los Angeles in February of conspiracy to manufacture cocaine, conspiracy to export currency, tax evasion and money laundering, sat stoically as U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson handed down a 365-month sentence for the drug conviction.

Wilson added another five years for the tax-evasion and money-laundering convictions, then sentenced Roca to another 10 years, to be served concurrently.

“If there was ever a case that deserved such a severe sentence, this is the case. There was an extraordinary amount of drugs involved, and this went on for some time,” Wilson said.

Defense attorney Yolanda Barrera argued that her client’s alleged large-scale organization--said by prosecutors to include a small air force that trafficked 50,000 kilograms of cocaine paste over several years--was, in the prosecution’s own words, a “normal” operation in which family members collected and sold cocaine.

“There is no evidence that he sold to the Medellin Cartel,” Barrera said, attempting to discount earlier allegations by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration that Roca dealt with the powerful Columbian organization.

But U.S. Atty. John F. Gibbons said Roca had attempted to deceive tax officials by purchasing real estate under a different name. Gibbons also argued that the volume of the narcotics involved called for the maximum sentence.

Barrera said Roca’s conviction will be appealed.

Wilson declared a mistrial in Roca’s first trial last December because the jury deadlocked. Roca was convicted in a second trial in February, after the jury deliberated for just two hours.