2 arrested with kilo of cocaine offered plea deals with lengthy prison sentences
ALBION – Two men who were arrested on June 17 in the biggest cocaine seizure in Orleans County history have been offered plea deals that would result in lengthy prison sentences.
Daniel Guzman
The two men were allegedly trying to smuggle cocaine from Texas into Orleans County.
Daniel Guzman, 29, of Houston, Texas and Luis Alberto Sanchez-Garza, 31, of Mexico each are in jail on $500,000 bail. Both men face Class A-1 felony charges for criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree. The drug seized has a street value of about $150,000.
Luis Alberto Sanchez-Garza
District Attorney Joe Cardone offered the two plea deals on Monday. If they plead guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree, they would still be facing several years in state prison.
Guzman, who has at least one prior felony, would face a maximum of 10 years, while Sanchez-Garza, who doesn’t have a prior felony, would face up to 8 years.
The two are considering the offer from the DA.
Cardone said law enforcement searched a vehicle on June 17 after getting a warrant. Police heard from an informant that Guzman and Sanchez-Graza were allegedly bringing the cocaine to Orleans County.
Police, including the Albion K9, searched the vehicle that was stopped on East Avenue in Albion and found 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) of cocaine hidden in the engine compartment.
In another case on Monday, a former Medina resident was sentenced to nine months in jail for criminal mischief in the fourth degree.
Hamzah Abdur-Rasheed, 22, formerly of East Center Street in Medina admitted in court to damaging a door on May 19, 2014. Judge James Punch said Abdur-Rasheed engaged in “violent bullying.”
