This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A West Jordan man will serve 12 years in federal prison for his role in a drug organization.
Lorenzo Verduzco-Benitez, 28, the "head of a drug organization which sold heroin and methamphetamine in Utah," was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office.
Verduzco-Benitez had pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to distribute heroin and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
"He admitted that between July 1, 2014, and March 6, 2015, he was the head of a narcotics organization operating in Utah," the attorney's office statement reads. The statement adds that Verduzco-Benitez admitted to distributing heroin and to using surrogates to deposit drug proceeds into bank accounts to pay his suppliers, "allowing him to conceal and disguise the nature, source and ownership of the drug proceeds."
Investigators say they intercepted drugs and conducted drug buys from Verduzco-Benitez's organization, and that evidence showed he resupplied dealers in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Michigan.
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