COLUMBUS – On November 19th,2018 Franklin County Sheriffs successfully prosecuted a member of a drug trafficking organization involving several foreign nationals. According to a press release from Franklin County Sheriffs office.
In April of 2017, the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigation Unit conducted an investigation of a drug trafficking organization involving several foreign nationals.
On May 17,2017, a search warrant was obtained for the residence of Carlos Marquez Noriega at 7865 Red Hill Court, Worthington Ohio. SIU detectives moved in and arrested Noriega’s co-defendant, Michelle Lopez. Noriega was also arrested after leaving the scene.
The search warrant received approx. 23,000 in US currency, Heroin, and a handgun. A total of 322.02 grams 3/4 of a pound of Heroin seized through the investigation.
On October 1,2018, Carlose Marquez Noriega was convicted of four counts of Trafficking in Heroin and four counts of Possession of Heroin felonies of the first and second degrees.
Noriega was sentenced on November 19,2018 to 26 years of mandatory time fo his role in trafficking in Heroin in Franklin County. Noriega will face deportation after the completion of his sentence; this was his third time in the United States Illegally.
Michelle Lopez was found guilt of three counts of Trafficking in Heroin with Forfeiture of Money in a Drug Case felony of the second degree, and one count of Tracing in Heroin with Forfeiture of Money in a Drug Case felony of the first degree. She was sentenced to seven years of mandatory time.
