Florida Jail Prison

Illegal Immigrant Squats In Vacant DC Apartment, Using It For Drug Stash

An illegal immigrant from Mexico squatted in a vacant Washington, D.C., apartment and turned it into a drug stash house, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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An illegal immigrant from Mexico squatted in a vacant Washington, D.C., apartment and turned it into a drug stash house, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Eder Luciano Pacheco, 36, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty today to maintaining drug-involved premises and unlawful possession of a firearm by an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States.

According to the government’s evidence, on May 28, 2022, members of the Metropolitan Police Department responded to an apartment building in the District’s Southwest Waterfront neighborhood after receiving a report that a vacant apartment unit was being unlawfully occupied. 

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Upon officers entering the unit, the defendant exited a bedroom and made his presence known to the police. 

Officers observed large bags of a leafy green substance consistent in appearance with marijuana.  Officers also observed several large duffle bags containing suspected marijuana.

The substance was later weighed, and a representative sample was field tested. The substance weighed approximately 618.75 pounds (approximately 280.66 kilograms) and field-tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound in marijuana. 

Officers recovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun from the bedroom the defendant had been occupying when they first entered the unit. 

The man told officers that another gun was in a cabinet above the refrigerator.  The few other items in the apartment, such as a FoodSaver vacuum sealer, indicated that the apartment was being used to repackage bulk marijuana for further distribution.

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Luciano Pacheco was arrested on May 28, 2022, and has remained in custody since.

Maintaining a drug-involved premises carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000. 

Unlawful possession of a firearm by a person illegally or unlawfully in the United States carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. 

The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as the Court will determine any sentence imposed in this case after considering the United States Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

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