KINGMAN - The case known as Operation Picture Perfect is all but over.
With the exception of two men who fled during their trial earlier this spring, all of the defendants have been sentenced to varying terms of prison or probation.
The last sentencing came Friday, when 37-year-old Xavier Milea, who had been found guilty by a jury of conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, was sentenced by Judge Steven Conn to six years in prison.
Milea was one of five men whose combined trial began in March and lasted around five weeks. Two of the men, 55-year-old John Boone and Milea's 40-year-old half-brother, Daniel Milea, fled during the trial and have warrants out for their arrest. Both were found guilty of conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, illegal use of a wire and conducting an illegal enterprise.
The other two trial defendants were Sean Blackwell and Michael Mayo. Blackwell was found guilty of conspiracy to sell methamphetamine, illegal use of a wire, possession of dangerous drugs and three counts of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to three years in prison.
Mayo was found guilty of conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, illegal use of a wire and conducting an illegal enterprise. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
Thirteen of the 18 defendants, including alleged ringleaders Jose and Deaney Ochoa, took plea deals to avoid trial.
They were all arrested in April 2008 after a lengthy investigation by the Mohave Area General Narcotics Enforcement Team, which charged the individuals with varying levels of participation in a methamphetamine ring said to have brought around 500 pounds of the drug into Kingman over the course of a year.
The bust was said to have netted the county thousands of pages of wiretap information, a pound of methamphetamine, $42,660 in cash, 43 weapons, 20 cars/trucks, two personal watercraft, four all-terrain vehicles, one dune buggy, 15 big-screen/ flat-screen TVs, 28 computers and seven surveillance camera systems.
During Milea's sentencing, Judge Conn, who presided over the Picture Perfect cases, said the disparity in the sentences was the result of multiple factors, including actual acts committed and cooperation with authorities following their arrest, as well as prior criminal history and outstanding, unrelated charges for some of the defendants.
Prosecutor Greg McPhillips said that he made offers to each of the 18 defendants that he felt were fairly consistent. He said that while many members of the public don't like the idea of cutting deals with accused criminals, plea agreements are necessary for prosecutors to handle their vast workload.
Milea's lawyer asserted that at best, his client delivered packages of methamphetamine once or twice and only as a favor to his brother, since Milea was said to not be a member of the actual drug ring.
McPhillips said Milea's actions were still a significant harm to the community and said the punishment was appropriate.
Milea faced up to 9.25 years in prison.
The rest of the sentences were as follows:
• Mickie L. Castro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years of probation.
• Tashua Havatone pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to 120 days in jail and three years of supervised probation.
• Vernice Salazar-Escalante pleaded guilty to attempted possession of dangerous drugs for sale, methamphetamine; sentenced to 229 days with credit for 229 days served because she allowed someone to store drugs at her home for a short time.
• Jose Luis Hernandez Rascon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to 250 days in jail.
• Consuelo Magana pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to seven years in prison.
• Reynaldo Magana pleaded guilty to possession of dangerous drugs for sale, sentenced to 12 years in prison.
• Bryan I. Baldwin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to 9 years in prison.
• Terrance D. Roberts pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to 15 years in prison.
• William S. Smith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to seven years in prison.
• James B. Patterson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to 200 days in jail.
• Manuel R. Monteiro Jr. pleaded guilty to possession of dangerous drugs for sale, sentenced to probation.
• Jose Ochoa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, two counts of attempted transportation of dangerous drugs for sale and one count of money laundering in the second degree; sentenced to 15 years in prison.
• Deaney Ochoa pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, sentenced to six months in jail.
• Sean Blackwell was found guilty of conspiracy to sell methamphetamine, illegal use of a wire, possession of dangerous drugs and three counts of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia; sentenced to three years in prison.
• Michael Mayo was found guilty of conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, illegal use of a wire and conducting an illegal enterprise; sentenced to seven years in prison.
• John Boone was found guilty of conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, illegal use of a wire and conducting an illegal enterprise. Awaiting sentencing, warrant issued.
• Daniel Milea was found guilty of conspiracy to sell dangerous drugs, illegal use of a wire and conducting an illegal enterprise. Awaiting sentencing, warrant issued.
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
Nice Chuckle
@Highly Amused
Now, I'm SURE you have proof of how drugs have corrupted our local officials before you make a highly libelous statement like that, right?
Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010
Article comment by:
Joe (Last name withheld)
@ V Stokes Yeah, I know. Those pesky stats always getting in the way of making good sound policy decisions (cough, cough). Why aren't we seeing folks committing such crimes in order to supply their alcohol addictions???
@ Higly Amused I can't think of a better way of destroying families than applying your policy of extermination of users. Come on man, get real.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Highly Amused
Kinda hard to stop the drugs when it corrupts our local politicians. How are you supposed to stop something that is so vast and powerful? Personally, I think anyone found in possession of even an empty baggie that held meth ought to be put to death. And yes, people, even if it were my own family member. I have no sympathy, empathy, nor do I feel bad for being this cold-hearted. I've seen drugs destroy children, families, and careers due to the sad stupidity of one little human being. And as for these ridiculous sentences, I agree with whoever said that as soon as those sentences are served, they're just going to be right back to doing what they were: selling/making/doing drugs.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
SUNNY NOT NOW
I miss living in kingman with my family. I would love to move back but I know first hand how deep meth runs in Kingman, It took 6 yrs away from my life and my family's life. Alot of the girls i went to high school with ended up on meth and half of them have their kids taken away. Its a sad thing to see the people you grew up with have so much taken from them because of that superwoman high 'we" chased. I want to move back to Kingman but I am SO AFRAID of my kids being influenced by it when its time for them to hit high school or even jr high! STOP THE METH IN KINGMAN!! This is something we all have to pitch in to do! Its a WAR ON METH we must have to get out beautiful town that full of so much history back from these drug dealers and addicts....
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Meth Problems
I have had the displeasure of meeting people on meth over the years. Maybe we need a meth camp and give them all they desire so they can enjoy themselves. They can steal from each other and fix things until they are broken.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
V Stokes
Those stats make perfect sense when you think about them. Violent crimes probably include things like assault, arson,battery, some types of property damage, homicide, domestic violence,etc. Many of those charges could come out of a fight in a bar or a drunken backyard party or drunk driving.
But the one thing that isn't explained is that I would guess many crimes committed by drug addicts occur so that they can GET their fix, not when they actually have it. Things like burglary, shoplifting, auto theft, false credit card usage, etc.
Stats can be used for almost any purpose the person desires.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Joe (Last name withheld
@ Proud Kingmanite. I'm not defending drug use of any kind including your apparent drug of choice- booze, Or should I say "Coors Light", as if your drug of choice isn't also a major problem in every trailer park in town. I'm just pointing out the facts, Kinmganite. Just the facts. Ease up on your next dose of drug war propaganda next time, would ya?
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Joe (Last name withheld
@Frank Lee “Point in fact” Frankie, the statistics back up what I’m saying if you bothered to check them out.
Additionally I was speaking “anecdotally”- that means that I’m also speaking from personal experience as a peace officer, Frank. You know the guy who comes over to your house when a crime has been committed and performs an investigation?
Oh, and the data that backs up my claim is almost endless Frank. I snatched just this one for you in less than ten seconds... at least learn to google buddy.
"Contrary to conventional wisdom and popular myth, alcohol is more tightly linked with more violent crimes than crack, cocaine, heroin or any other illegal drug. In state prisons, 21 percent of inmates in prison for violent crimes were under the influence of alcohol--and no other substance--when they committed their crime in contrast, at the time of their crimes, only three percent of violent offenders were under the influence of cocaine or crack alone, only one percent under the influence of heroin alone."
Source: Califano, Joseph, Behind Bars: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population, Forward by Joseph Califano, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (1998). http://www.casacolumbia.org/absolutenm/articlefiles/379-Behind%20Bars.pd...
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Proud Kingmanite
Wow, Joe...it almost sounds like you're defending meth as if it were a Coors light.
I'll agree with you that alcohol certainly lowers inhibitions and we've all probably had a taste of that "liquid courage" at one time in our lives which made it easier to do something stupid or wreckless.
However, drugs (especially drugs such as meth) have a way of completely changing a person and the hunger to fulfill that addiction is near impossible to satisfy with anything other than THAT high that they get from meth. So you get a lot more burgalries, assaults, and the like as a "natural" side-effect if you will, from increased drug abuse.
If you can't make that simple connection and still want to assert that alcohol is in the same ballpark as methamphetamines, well then I guess I just wasted a lot of space.
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Very Sad
Kingman is full of druggies
Posted: Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Article comment by:
Frank Lee Speaking
@Joe (Last name withheld)
"Actually, there is a huge probability that any given burglary,........blah, blah, blah"
You really should not have started with the word "actually". It means "in point of fact". And your fact is really nothing more than something you pulled out of thin air. Of course, if I am wrong feel free to correct me with your extensive research and collection of local crime statistics.
Posted: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Article comment by:
Joe (Last name withheld)
Actually, there is a huge probability that any given burglary, home invasion and/or a LONG list of many other violent and dishonest crimes are also committed by alcoholics and/or individuals under the influence of alcoholic beverages. Maybe we should take Mr. Really Peepeed’s advice and incarcerate the boozers again too? (As if alcohol prohibition did any good).
A drug is just a drug, an inanimate object which can be abused like anything else.
Thugs from all walks of life impact us, our families, our communities, hell, everyone and THAT is what we need to address!
How about it, Mr. Myam Nogood, you want to help take care of the problem or keep throwing punches into the wind?
Posted: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Article comment by:
Frank Lee Speaking
With 15 years being the longest sentence received, if I am reading the story correctly, it is a joke. The defendants are laughing, their lawyers are laughing, and so are the enabling family members who enjoyed the fruits of their illegal labors. Some of them will be back in business in no time.
Posted: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Article comment by:
really pissedoff
Really the biggest sentance that I saw was 15 yrs...The punishmnet dont fit the crime...I knew lots of people who got involved with meth and they paid for it with thier lives....Really in my opinion anyone selling the stuff or attemting to sell the stuff should recieve life or the death penalty instantly....Really this is what the product they are helping distribute does to the life of thier clients....and yes I know is their was not a demand there would be no need for the supply.....
Posted: Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Article comment by:
Myam Nogood
Tell you what, I'd take three years in prison to bring in the money they did! And actually, they'll be out in less than two...it's definitely worth the risk! I'd make my money for as long as I could, hide it and then if I got pinched, I'd sit pretty for a while and then come back out of prison and have my nest egg waiting for me.
The prison sentences for meth crime doesn't deter anyone. You want to make meth production, dealing, etc. dry up a little more? Make the prison sentences much more severe. There is a huge probability that any given burglary/home invasion is committed by a meth user than anything else. Meth touches us all!
