Jared A. Wright, who is serving a seven-month sentence in the Navajo County Jail in connection with the case, recently was guarded by Frank Arvizu, a controversial figure in Operation Lively Green, a federal corruption investigation.
Arvizu, an FBI informant who posed as a member of a fictitious drug cartel, helped orchestrate the sweeping sting operation that ensnared dozens of military personnel, police officials and even prison guards.
The informant also was involved in one of the sting's more bizarre chapters, when FBI informants and drug runners hosted strippers and prostitutes while staying in Las Vegas, according to court records.
Wright's attorney and another Marine connected to the case were alarmed by the coincidence, though the situation appears to have been resolved.
Wright, who worked as a sergeant out of the Marines' Midtown recruiting office, began serving his time after being sentenced in November for transporting roughly 65 pounds of cocaine in February 2003.
Federal prison officials transferred Wright to the Navajo County Jail in Holbrook from a facility in Florence, where he had begun serving his sentence. Wright also has to pay $3,000 in fines, equal to the amount he was paid to run the drugs.
The former Marine told family and friends last week that Arvizu was working at the jail and had confronted him, said Marine Sgt. Jeff Edwards.
Edwards recently had military charges against him in connection to Operation Lively Green dropped, though officials are in the process of separating him from the service. The Tucson native worked with Wright in the recruiting office, where they became friends.
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