Colorado federal prisoner convicted in Wisconsin of running drug conspiracy from prison
Arranged shipment of marijuana from Mexico to Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. — A federal prisoner in Colorado was convicted in federal court Wednesday of running a conspiracy to smuggle drugs from Mexico to Wisconsin, while serving time in federal prison for another offense.
This conviction resulted from an investigation by the following agencies: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation.
Humberto Fierro-Rascon, 41, currently serving time at a federal prison in Florence, Colorado, was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute 50 kilograms or more of marijuana following a three-day trial in in Madison. The jury reached its verdict Wednesday after deliberating for five hours.
According to testimony given at trial, beginning in February 2013 investigators at the Federal Correctional Institution in Florence began intercepting telephone calls made by inmate Fierro-Rascon to other individuals regarding importing marijuana into the United States. Specifically, Fierro-Rascon arranged to smuggle a shipment of marijuana from Mexico to Christopher Johnson in northwest Wisconsin. Johnson was intercepted on numerous phone calls with Fierro-Rascon discussing money for the importing marijuana from Mexico.
In June 2013, prison officials learned through intercepted telephone calls that Tommy Garcia was traveling to Mexico to pick up a load of marijuana for Fierro-Rascon. On June 20, 2013, Garcia and Magdelena Gonzales were stopped crossing the border from Mexico to El Paso, Texas. A search of their van uncovered 159 pounds of marijuana hidden in the roof of the van. The load of marijuana was intended for Johnson in Wisconsin.
Garcia and Gonzalez were prosecuted in federal court in El Paso. Garcia was sentenced to 60 months and Gonzalez to 30 months in federal prison after their convictions for illegally importing marijuana.
Fierro-Rascon’s co-conspirator Johnson, 33, Weyerhaeuser, Wisconsin, pleaded guilty in federal court in Madison July 9, 2014 to distributing marijuana; he was sentenced Oct. 8 to 42 months in federal prison.
Sentencing for Fierro-Rascon is scheduled for March 12. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
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