Man Convicted in Drug Case Gets 20-Year Term
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A man convicted of transporting $46 million in cocaine from Van Nuys to Ontario was sentenced to 20 years in state prison, authorities said Tuesday.
Jose Madera, 48, of Edison, N. J., was found guilty Monday of transporting 412 pounds of cocaine in a truck from an apartment building in Van Nuys, Deputy Dist. Atty. David Mintz said. Madera was sentenced immediately at his request.
Madera was arrested in Ontario in August, 1989, after an investigation by federal Drug Enforcement Agency officials and several San Fernando police officers who are working with the DEA on San Fernando Valley-area drug investigations.
Madera was arrested as he was transferring the drugs to a second truck, hiding seven boxes of cocaine among 200 boxes of tortillas.
The sentence--five years for transporting cocaine and 15 years for possessing more than 100 pounds of cocaine--is the maximum allowed under state law for a single narcotics offense.
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