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RaidContinued from Page 1pounds, a Class C felony.The Howard County prosecutor’s office also filed a civil racketeering action against James A. Michael, 35, of Kokomo and Ismael Sanchez to seize Michael’s Transmission Rapair, 520 N. Ohio Ave., a business allegedly purchased with drug money. In Miami County, a racketeering statute was used to seize Alpine Village Pizza on U.S. 31 in Peru, which authorities allege was also purchased with drug money.In addition, federal charges of laundering money, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of$500,000, were filed by the United States attorney's office against Ismael Sanchez Jr., Alicia Magallan, her husband, 32-vear-old Adrian G. Magallan of Edinburg, Texas; Consuelo Sanchez and James A. Michael, 35, ofKokomo.Michael also is charged with causing a bank to file a false currency transaction report, which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.At the federal level, Ismael Sanchez, Alicia Magadan, Adrian Magallan and Consuelo Sanchez were charged with conspiracy to distribute in excess of too kilograms of marijuana, which carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine.In the local area, the investigation resulted in 64 felony counts filed in Howard Circuit Court, ll felony counts in Miami Superior Court and four felony counts in Cass Circuit Court.The arrest of the suspects will have the effect of drying up the supply of marijuana reaching street-level dealers in the area, according to Byal.Authorities said the operation involved the shipment of packages of marijuana through the U.S. Postal Service from Texas to Indiana, with payment returned by Western Union wire service.Authorities from Howard and Miami counties said approximately 147,000 was spent in controlled drug buys during the course of the investigation.All officials from the local to the federal level praised the success of “Operation Three Amigos1’ and the cooperation of all the agencies involved, but they noted the war on drugs coming into Indiana and its communities is not overHoward County Sheriff John D. Beatty said citizens must recognize the area has a significant drug problem, and a “day-to-day battle is being waged to fight it.Beatty said three bails of hay represent the amount of marijuana that has been coming into Uie area on a monthly basis — an estimated 200 pounds. “Take that over a two- or three-year period of lime and see how much room and how much space, and talk about the marijuana problem in our community, and the war that’s going on.Agencies involved in the investigation included the Kokomo Police Department, Howard County Sheriff Department, Howard County prosecutor's office, Peru Police Department, Indiana State Police, U.S. attorney, northern and southern districts. Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Logansporl Police Department, Cass County prosecutor’s office and the Texas Department oi Public Safety.
Newspaper Details
Kokomo Tribune
Kokomo, Indiana, US
Thu, Jan 11, 1990
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Crystal M.
NA, 02 Sep 2022
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