Cocaine Conspiracy: Colombian National Extradited To US, Faces Life In Prison
TAMPA, Fla. (CW44 News At 10) - An extradited Colombian national faces life in prison for his transnational conspiratorial role in distributing large amounts of cocaine throughout the US via Florida, Texas and California.
Thursday, acting United States Attorney Karin Hoppmann announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Gerardo Gomez-Lubo, a/k/a Francisco Niño (42, Colombia), with conspiracy to distribute large amounts of cocaine knowing and intending it to be imported into the United States. If convicted on all counts, Gerardo Gomez-Lubo faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison.
According to court documents, beginning in approximately September 2017 and continuing through 2019, Gomez-Lubo was part of a transnational criminal conspiracy that transported cocaine directly from Colombia to the United States, including Texas, California, Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida.
In April 2018, an indictment was returned in the Middle District of Florida charging Gerardo Gomez-Lubo and his co-conspirator, Piero Antonio Lubo-Barros, with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Gomez-Lubo was arrested on September 1, 2019 as he arrived at Tocumen International Airport in Panama at the request of the United States. The United States sought his extradition, which Panama granted on February 4, 2021, by Presidential Executive Order.
In January 2021, Piero Antonio Lubo-Barros was arrested in Costa Rica at the request of the United States, living under an assumed identity. He is currently pending extradition to the United States.
An indictment is merely a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty. CW44 News At 10 will provide further updates as they are made available.
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