2 Texas men sentenced in Mercer County drug case

MERCER, Pa. -- Two Texas men whose arrests in Mercer County led to the fall of a major national drug ring will be serving years in a federal prison.
Roberto Maldonado, 37, and Carlos Maza Jr., 41, both of Canutillo, Texas, were sentenced Friday in Pittsburgh. They pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to distribute 583 pounds of cocaine found in and near their vehicle along Interstate 80 on Jan. 24, 2003.
Police said the drugs had a wholesale value of between $5.8 million and $8 million, and a street value of as much as $25 million.
U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry ordered Maldonado to serve 6 1/2 years in prison and Maza to serve two years and three months.
McVerry said both men had given substantial assistance to the government in the investigation that led to the indictment and cooperation of other individuals.
Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said that cooperation led to a nationwide investigation characterized by the Drug Enforcement Administration as one of its three most significant cases in 2003.
Buchanan said there have been 53 arrests as well as the seizure of nearly one ton of cocaine and more than 500 pounds of marijuana and the confiscation of more than $8.2 million in cash and assets.
The result has been a dismantling of a major narcotics operation, she said.
Prosecutors said Pennsylvania State Trooper Charles Moran was on routine patrol Jan. 24, 2003, when he spotted a pickup truck that had crashed in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 in Mercer County.
He saw Maldonado and Maza walking along the berm and offered them a ride to the next exit to find a tow truck.
Maldonado asked Moran if he was under arrest, and Moran, thinking it was a joke, asked, "For what?"
Maldonado then admitted that duffle bags of cocaine were in the wrecked truck, prosecutors said.
Police said six duffle bags of cocaine were found in or near the truck.