A south Texas police officer has been sentenced to almost 25 years in federal prison for drug trafficking and a firearms violation the San Antonio field office of the FBI indicated today.
Orlando Jesus Hale, 28, a former officer with the Laredo Police Department (LPD) was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez for not only drug trafficking, but using a firearm during and in relation to the drug trafficking offense, United States Attorney José Angel Moreno announced.
Judge Alvarez sentenced Hale to 235 months for his “conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine between Oct. 15, 2008, and Nov. 30, 2008.”
Hale will also serve a “consecutive 60-month prison term for using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime and possessing the firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime in November 2008 for a total of 295 months, or 24.5 years’ imprisonment.”
Hale was taken into custody of the U.S. Marshals Service immediately after the sentencing.
Hale was convicted in a September 2010 jury trial of conspiring with Pedro Martinez III, another Laredo Police Officer, to escort cocaine-loaded cars through Laredo.
They used their “police-issued radios to monitor Laredo Police Department dispatch traffic during the escort,” the FBI release said. “The firearms conviction is a result of Hale carrying a firearm during a meeting at a hotel in Laredo at which the co-conspirators discussed the details of the planned escorts with each other, and with an FBI undercover agent whom they believed was a drug trafficker.”
On Nov. 13, 2008, the two police officers, “each escorted a load vehicle during afternoon rush-hour traffic. Each vehicle contained 20 kilograms of sham cocaine.”
“On Nov. 25, Hale and Martinez arranged to meet the payoff person in San Antonio, Texas, to receive payment for the protective escort services they had provided,” the FBI release indicated. “Hale and Martinez each received $1,000 from another undercover agent posing as the organization’s moneyman.”
Martinez, who pleaded guilty prior to trial, testified against Hale at his trial.
Upon release of imprisonment, Hale is required to pay a $2,000 fine and to serve a five-year term of supervised release.
To contact Jack Dennis email jackdennistexas@yahoo.com.
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