2 charged in Wednesday drug bust
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BY LORI PILGER / Lincoln Journal Star
A day after a sweep of arrests said to have taken down a drug trafficking group, the first two of seven suspects were in Lancaster County Court to hear what charges they face.
Prosecutors filed felony allegations against two of the men so far. The rest are set to be in court Friday.
Julio Flores Garcia, a 37-year-old with glasses, quietly stood in front of Judge Mary Doyle on Thursday afternoon and told her through an interpreter that he could afford his own attorney.
The state alleges he aided and abetted the distribution of more than 140 grams of methamphetamine, a charge that carries a possible penalty of 20 years to life.
In May, court records say, a man allegedly fingered Flores as the man who delivered a pound of cocaine to him for another man.
Doyle set Flores’ next court date for April 8, then asked Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Marcie Hagerty what she was asking for bond.
“Two million,” she said simply.
Doyle set it, and the courtroom fell silent for a second.
A woman in one row leaned to a man. Cuánto?
Then Flores shuffled back to the door to the jail, escorted by security.
Next up, Daniel Sanchez, 24, facing two delivery charges that carry sentences of 20 years to life.
The state alleges Sanchez fronted a man a quarter-pound of meth and more than half a pound of cocaine in a lot at 14th and Superior streets on Monday. The next day, police had a warrant for his arrest.
His bond: $2 million.
As he walked back to the door to the jail, two girls rushed out of the room crying, one with her hands to her face.
A third man, John Rademacker, 22, was in court on a DUI charge from last October for driving under the influence of marijuana. Police say he was involved in drug trafficking, too.
They came across Rademacker early Oct. 22 after a one-car accident at 14th and O streets in his Mercury Mystique.
The officer smelled marijuana, and police say Rademacker allowed a search that led police to find a sandwich bag of marijuana they say he just bought for $120. They say he called himself a “marijuana connoisseur.”
Rademacker was picked up Wednesday on suspicion of possession with intent to deliver, but has not been charged with that.
Four more of the men arrested Wednesday sit in jail, waiting for court Friday. They are: Aurelio Valdovinos Sanchez, 40, 1611 Prairie Lane; Luis Corrales Gomez, 19, 4300 N. Seventh St.; Jose A. Hernandez, 24, a transient; Avimael Monroy, 20, 567 Fletcher Ave.
Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood said she didn’t know if any of the men are in the U.S. illegally.
None has an immigration hold on him.
A court record search showed all but one has a Nebraska driver’s license, which requires a valid Social Security number or valid immigration documents.
Police are looking for another man with ties to Mexico who allegedly sold 3 ounces of meth to an undercover officer in a parking lot at 27th and Superior on Nov. 8.
Police lumped them all together, although it’s unclear what or how much of a role each may have played.
Most meth that makes its way to Nebraska comes from Mexico, Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said. In cases like this, he said, investigators often try to track the drugs back to the source.
In this case, court records have just started to trickle in.
Police allege the seven men — and maybe more — distributed hundreds of pounds of meth in Lincoln and other Nebraska communities.
“I think we’ve made a major dent in methamphetamine trafficking here in this part of the state,” Casady said. “We're seeing the tip of the iceberg with these arrests and search warrants.”
He said the men were involved in guns, drugs, stolen property, even child abuse.
Police seized a picture of a man propping a baby up over a kitchen island, an AK-47 with four banana clips in one hand and a semi-automatic pistol in the other. Ammunition is lined up in front of them in a new $150,000 house in north Lincoln.
That man is still at large.
“There will be another 2,100 drug arrests in Lincoln this year, but few will have as much impact on disrupting crime,” Casady said.
Drug investigators had been conducting surveillance, working with informants and making undercover buys since last summer in the case, Casady said.
It came to a head Wednesday with four search warrants and seven arrests.
The chief described how the bust was carried out as a “work of art.”
At 8:15 a.m., the police briefing room in the basement of the police station was filled with Lincoln police, Lancaster County Sheriff’s deputies, Nebraska State troopers, University of Nebraska police, the FBI, the DEA and personnel from the prosecutor’s office.
Police Sgt. John Donahue had the operations plan on the plasma monitors while Police Capt. Brian Jackson reviewed assignments, Casady said.
He said the plan included interpreters, mug shots, maps, floor plans, aerial photos and notes about children at some of the addresses.
“The room was packed with officers in full gear, listening intently to their instructions. Nothing like a few decked-out SWAT teams to make a chief smile,” he wrote later on his blog.
By afternoon, they had seized more than a pound of methamphetamine, nearly a pound of cocaine and more than $80,000 in cash.
Reach Lori Pilger at 473-7237 or lpilger@journalstar.com.
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