U.S. Attorney Mark Totten announced that 35-year-old Adrian Romero Antunez, a Mexican national in the United States on a tourist visa, pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine. Romero Antunez was the final defendant to plead guilty in a transnational and interstate cocaine ring that centered around New Buffalo, Michigan resident 33-year-old Ivan Huerta Hernandez. Through conduits in Mexico, Huerta Hernandez was supplied by sources located in Chicago, including Romero Antunez.
Huerta Hernandez then distributed cocaine to dealers in West Michigan and Northern Indiana.
On the morning of November 3, 2021, approximately 90 federal, state, and local law enforcement officers executed arrest warrants and six search warrants in four judicial districts: the Western District of Michigan, the Northern District of Indiana, the Northern District of Illinois,
and the Central District of Illinois. Investigators seized over 1.5 kilograms of cocaine,
approximately $100,000 in cash, six vehicles linked to cocaine trafficking, and two firearms.
On May 23, 2022, the Honorable Paul L. Maloney, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan sentenced Nichols to 36 months imprisonment, Martinez Camarillo to 57
months, and Cardenas to one year of probation. The following defendants are scheduled for sentencing on the following dates: Rogers on June 17, 2022, Johnson on June 21, 2022, Huerta Hernandez on July 21, 2022, and Romero Antunez on September 12, 2022.
The men who have pled guilty to felony charges are listed below:
33-year-old Ivan Huerta Hernandez of New Buffalo, Michigan
35-year-old Adrian Romero Antunez of Chicago, Illinois
41-year-old Henry Shavar Nichols of Greenville, South Carolina
41-year-old Marcus Jemel Johnson Benton Harbor, Michigan
37-year-old Juan Martinez Camarillo Michigan City, Indiana
62-year-old Donald James Rogers New Buffalo, Michigan
54-year-old Manuel Eudave La Porte, Indiana
41-year-old Santiago Cardenas Michigan City, Indiana
On Monday, the Honorable Paul L. Maloney, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan sentenced Nichols to 36 months imprisonment, Martinez Camarillo to 57 months, and Cardenas to one year of probation.
Rogers and Johnson are scheduled for sentencing in June. Huerta Hernandez is scheduled for sentencing in July. Romero Antunez is scheduled for sentencing in September.
The case was investigated and prosecuted as part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation that began in 2020 and has been led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), United States Marshals Service (USMS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Michigan State Police’s Southwest Enforcement Team (SWET), Berrien County Sheriff’s Department (BCSD), Pokagon Band Tribal Police, Michigan City Police Department, La Porte City Police Department, and the Cook County Sheriff Department.