RSO deputy who transported over 100 lbs of fentanyl pills gets probation, time served

NOTE in this same story on Wednesday, there was no mention of an objection from the District Attorney's Office because confirmation of last week's proceedings by the agency DID NOT include any reference to an objection on the record. The D.A.'s office, however, NOW SAYS the prosecution did in fact make one. The story below makes that clear with a quote.

RIVERSIDE, Calif (CNS) - A former Riverside County sheriff's correctional deputy caught carrying more than 100 pounds of fentanyl on Interstate 10 was on probation today after pleading guilty to felony charges.   

Jorge Alberto Oceguera Rocha, 26, of Banning last week admitted transportation of controlled substances and possession of controlled substances for sale during a status hearing before Superior Court Judge David Gunn at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

The plea was directly to the judge -- and in the face of opposition from the District Attorney's Office.

"We did object, on the record in open court, to the defendant making a plea to the court ... based on the defendant taking advantage of a position of public trust,'' agency spokesman John Hall said.

Gunn was unswayed. He dismissed sentence-enhancing allegations of perpetrating a drug-related offense while armed and imposed a four-year term of incarceration, which would have been served in county jail because the offenses were categorized as "non-violent."

However, after factoring state credits intended to reduce overcrowding in correctional facilities and adding the time Rocha had already spent behind bars awaiting disposition of his case, the defendant's sentence was stayed, and he was released from the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on Thursday. He is now on mandatory supervision for 16 months.   

Rocha resigned his position with the Riverside County Sheriff's Department immediately after he was arrested in September 2023.   

Investigators said the defendant was driving in the area of I-10 and County Line Road in Calimesa when he was stopped by law enforcement in the predawn hours of Sept. 17, 2023.

Rocha had been one of more than a dozen people under surveillance as part of Operation Hotline Bling, a joint federal-local law enforcement crackdown on the Sinaloa drug trafficking network based in Mexico.  

"After a K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics within the vehicle, a search was conducted,'' sheriff's Capt. Rob Roggeveen said at the time. "Located in the vehicle was (104) pounds of packaged fentanyl pills M30s. Also located in the vehicle was a loaded handgun.''

Rocha was taken into custody without incident.   

The sheriff's captain didn't say how long the Special Investigations Bureau had been monitoring the defendant, or what evidence prompted the investigation into his narcotics dealing for the Sinaloa cartel, which did not include "smuggling narcotics into the Riverside County jail system.''

Operation Hotline Bling resulted in charges against 15 people throughout the region, including the defendant.   

He was hired by the department in April 2019 and had been assigned to the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.