A New York man has been convicted of trafficking 3 kilograms of heroin in Gwinnett County, the district attorney’s office said.
Victor Grullon-Francisco, of the Bronx, has been sentenced to 30 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for one charge of trafficking more than 28 grams of heroin.
Grullon-Francisco and Tomas Hernandez drove from the Bronx to the QuikTrip on Oakbrook Parkway in Norcross on Feb. 6, 2016, to meet Marcelo Enciso-Rodriguez, who had been identified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as a supplier of large amounts of heroin, the DA’s office said.
The DEA told the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office that Enciso-Rodriguez, a Gwinnett County resident, would hide 3 kilograms of heroin in a car battery and sell it. The car batteries, still functional, would be installed in the buyer’s vehicle.
The DA’s Drug Task Force got court authorized wiretaps of Enciso-Rodriguez’s phone. Surveillance of his calls alerted the task force that Grullon-Francisco was the heroin buyer, the DA’s office said.
After Enciso-Rodriugez, Hernandez and Grullon-Francisco met at the convenience store, DEA agents followed Grullon-Francisco’s car up Interstate 85 and stopped him near Braselton. When asked if there was anything in his car battery, Grullon-Francisco “began to grow faint,” and agents found the drugs after cutting the battery open.
Grulllon-Francisco’s defense attorney argued that Grullon-Francisco was just “along for the ride” to pick up a car battery. The prosecution disputed this, saying it as unlikely that he would drive 900 miles each way to simply pick up a battery and drive home.
Hernandez and Enciso-Rodriguez were also charged with trafficking more than 28 grams of heroin in this case. Both pleaded guilty. Hernandez was sentenced to 25 years in prison and Enciso-Rodriguez was sentenced to 30 years. Hernandez pleaded guilty on Sept. 19 and Enciso-Rodriguez pleaded guilty on June 21. Grullon-Francisco was the only one of the three men to face a trial.
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