2 men extradited from Honduras sentenced in Bay Area drug trafficking cases
Two men who were convicted in Bay Area drug trafficking cases after they were extradited from Honduras have been sentenced to federal prison, prosecutors said.
According to U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California, a judge sentenced 35-year-old Jorge Viera-Chirinos to 40 months in prison on March 5. On March 12, the same judge sentenced 32-year-old Elmar Matute to 36 months in prison.
Prosecutors said both men, who are Honduran nationals, were extradited back to the United States in February of last year.
Viera-Chirinos and 13 co-defendants were charged in Aug. 2019 for trafficking what prosecutors described as "large quantities" of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base and cocaine.
While he was released on bond, Viera-Chirinos fled to Honduras in Sep. 2020. He was extradited back to the U.S. in February of last year.
Viera-Chirinos pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine base and cocaine, prosecutors said.
In a plea agreement, Viera-Chirinos admitted to arrange housing for street-level drug dealers who purchased drugs from him and others, who then in turn resold them in San Francisco's Tenderloin. He also admitted to sourcing drugs that other coconspirators provided to street-level dealers.
Prosecutors said Matute was indicted in Dec. 2019 and had a warrant out for his arrest. He was later arrested in Honduras.
After being extradited to the U.S., Matute pleaded guilty in November to possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
According to Matute's plea agreement, authorities seized 663 grams of heroin, 168 grams of methamphetamine, 386 grams of cocaine base and 175 grams of cocaine during a search of his Richmond home in 2018. Matute admitted to possessing the drugs and intended to distribute them to others.
