A Pacoima woman who ran a stash house and moved cash for a drug ring that operated out of Van Nuys and used a fleet of cars and a staff of drivers to make instant heroin and cocaine deliveries faces the possibility of years behind bars at sentencing Wednesday.
Jacqueline De La Rosa, 25, pleaded guilty in May in downtown Los Angeles to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. The federal charge carries a sentence of between 10 years and life behind bars, but prosecutors recommended a penalty of almost four years.
De La Rosa was among seven people arrested in December in connection with a 14-person indictment targeting "Manny's Delivery Service." More than a dozen defendants have since pleaded guilty.
While the service sold small quantities to telephone customers, conspirators sold larger quantities to other dealers as part of a high-volume drug ring, prosecutors said.
During a two-month period that began in late August 2017, members of the ring obtained multi-pound quantities of black-tar heroin from Mexico and moved hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, according to secretly recorded conversations outlined in the indictment. Bulk narcotics were stored in De La
Rosa's stash house, and smaller quantities of drugs were packaged and dispatched to addicts from a Van Nuys facility, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said authorities seized about 14 pounds of heroin, more than a pound of cocaine and a significant amount of cash during the takedown last year.
News
Top news of the day
Sigifredo Gurrola Barrientos, 40, of Sylmar, who managed the operation and oversaw the movement of narcotics and the delivery fleet, pleaded guilty in the case and faces sentencing in October.
