Source: Office of United States Attorneys
DENVER – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announces that Jose Baeza, 41, of Colorado Springs, was sentenced to 330 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and 500 grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, one count of distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl, and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Baeza also pleaded guilty to one count of murder in the second degree in Otero County Court.
According to the plea agreement, Baeza, also known as “Terco” shot a person in La Junta, Colorado, in March 2022, over a drug debt owed to the drug trafficking organization to which he belonged. The person Baeza shot died of a gunshot wound to the chest.
“Violent drug dealers have no place in our communities,” said Acting United States Attorney J. Bishop Grewell. “I am grateful to our partners for removing this dangerous criminal from our streets and placing him behind bars for many years to come.”
“I commend the work of DEA’s Colorado Springs Resident Office and our partners at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Colorado for bringing justice to Jose Baeza,” said DEA Rocky Mountain Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Pullen. “Those involved in drug trafficking and murder have no place in our society, and DEA will continue to be relentless in its pursuit of individuals and criminal organizations who break the laws of the United States.”
United States District Court Judge Daniel D. Domenico presided over the sentencing.
The Drug Enforcement Administration handled the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Alyssa Christine Mance and Talia Bucci handled the prosecution.
Case Number: 22-CR-00345