Yvette Porras-Ochoa, 42, of Wittmann, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced Wednesday.
Porras-Ochoa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of cocaine, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute prescription-controlled substances oxycodone and promethazine-codeine, and conspiracy to commit money laundering on August 22, according to the United States Attorney’s Office.
The agency described Porras-Ochoa as the leader of a drug trafficking operation based in Arizona that distributed significant amounts of cocaine and prescription medications.
Porras-Ochoa obtained the prescription medicines fraudulently by using an Arizona-licensed medical practitioner’s authorization to administer restricted substances, according to the department.
She also recruited people to pick up prescription medicines from pharmacies in Arizona, according to the department.
Porras-Ochoa obtained the medications and then sold both the prescription drugs and cocaine to out-of-state buyers, according to the agency.
According to the government, Porras-Ochoa made payments in a variety of sophisticated methods to evade discovery and laundered some of the narcotics revenues through real estate deals.
The department acknowledged that during the year-and-a-half-long inquiry, investigators seized considerable narcotics quantities associated with Porras-Ochoa.
According to the agency, the seized items included 884.2 grams of oxycodone, 33,330 units of promethazine-codeine, 4,690 units of alprazolam, 27,200 units of tramadol, 63,900 units of midazolam, and 2.96 kilograms of cocaine.
The agency verified that this case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.
The OCDETF’s mission is to detect, disrupt, and dismantle high-level narcotics traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that pose serious dangers to the United States, according to the department.