Juan Arocho-Gonzales

Sentence: 20 years
Offense: Possession with intent to distribute in excess of 5 kilograms of cocaine; continuing criminal enterprise (CCE)
Priors: None 
Year sentenced: 1995 
Age at sentencing: 22
Projected release date: June 14, 2012

Juan and his six siblings grew up in a public housing project in Puerto Rico. His parents separated when he was eight after years of domestic violence. Juan’s mother, overwhelmed by the pressures of raising seven children in extreme poverty, provided little supervision or guidance. Juan dropped out of school in fifth grade and spent most of his time smoking marijuana with his brothers. By the time he was twelve, his mother had left the family to move in with a boyfriend. Soon after, Juan developed a $20-per-day heroin and cocaine habit.
 
Local authorities discovered that Juan, his brother and nine others were selling cocaine from their housing project.  Through testimony from a criminal informant, videotape surveillance, controlled buys and drugs seized through searches, police determined that the eleven codefendants were responsible for a total of five kilograms of cocaine.  Juan was charged as a leader in the drug trafficking organization and continuing criminal enterprise (CCE).  The eleven-count indictment also included charges of inducing a person under 18 to sell drugs and distributing cocaine within a school zone.  Juan accepted responsibility for all drug charges, but objected to his portrayal as a leader in the conspiracy. He was arrested with only 12.4 grams of cocaine and went to trial to prove that all defendants in the case participated equally in selling small amounts of drugs. Juan’s argument was unsuccessful and he was convicted as a leader.
 
At sentencing, Judge Hector M. Laffitte expressed remorse at the “tragedy” of condemning Juan to two decades behind bars at such a young age:
 
“[It] is the youth of this defendant when viewed in the light of the severe, stiff provisions of the sentencing guidelines and the statute that makes this case tough and difficult and sad. [One] has to pass sentence in this case with a heavy heart…but that’s what the law says, and that’s what I have to do.”
 
Juan’s brother is also serving a 20-year sentence. His other co-defendants received terms ranging from one to two-and-a-half years. Juan’s two children, an infant and a toddler when he was sent to prison, have grown up without their father.