Jose Manuel Cazares Contreras, 30, and Victor Delgadillo Parra, 21, both pleaded guilty in federal court to manslaughter charges tied to their selling heroin to a Grove City man who died from an overdose of the drug.Each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than one kilogram of cocaine and one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin resulting in serious bodily injury or death. The first charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and the second by up to 20 years. In August, Franklin County, Columbus and Grove City law enforcement authorities began the investigation into the black tar heroin trafficking organization. According to information received by investigators, heroin users called a telephone number and spoke to an individual to order heroin. Then, a runner was dispatched to make the delivery.
Contreras was indentified as the person who normally handled the phone calls and Parra was tagged as one of the runners.Between August and October, investigators made several controlled heroin purchases from the group.Meanwhile, Aug. 29, investigators were informed of the overdose death of Arthur Eisel IV and linked it to the organization through the heroin that killed the victim.On Oct. 17, two federal search warrants were executed on residences in Columbus and Canal Winchester, from which heroin and the phone used to take the orders were seized by police. Contreras and Parra, both Mexican immigrants in the U.S. illegally, were arrested at the Canal Winchester home.In addition to the Columbus-area agencies involved in the arrests, the Fairfield Hocking Major Crimes Unit and IRS Criminal Investigation unit provided assistance in the case.
A sentencing date has yet to be scheduled.
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