Couple Sentenced In $3M Marijuana Smuggling Plot
GREENBELT, Md. (AP) -- An Arizona couple has been sentenced to at least 10 years in prison each for leading a $3 million marijuana smuggling plot.
Fifty-nine-year-old Jose Valenzuela and his wife, 56-year-old Beatriz Valenzuela, both of Nogales, were sentenced to 11 years and 10 years respectively on Monday in federal court in Greenbelt. The couple was also ordered to forfeit $970,000 in cash and $1.2 million in bank accounts.
According to their guilty plea, the Valenzuelas used a shipping business they owned to ship marijuana from Arizona to Maryland.
After an investigation, law officers raided the Valenzuelas' home and businesses and seized $970,000 in cash and more than 750 pounds of marijuana.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
