June 11, 2009
Media Contact: Jenn Meale
Phone: (850) 245-0150
Central Florida Cocaine Trafficker Receives 10-Year Prison Sentence
TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that a Lake County man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trafficking narcotics throughout Central Florida. Marco Antonio Perez Torres, who is currently in the country illegally, pleaded guilty to trafficking 400 grams or more of cocaine and conspiracy to traffic 400 grams or more of cocaine. He was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.
Torres, 36, was originally arrested in October 2007 after a lengthy investigation by the Volusia Bureau of Investigation. The investigation revealed that Torres and a group of associates were bringing large amounts of cocaine and cannabis into Central Florida, then distributing the drugs to dealers.
Torres was sentenced by the Honorable James R. Clayton, Circuit Judge for the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Florida. Upon his release from prison, Torres will be turned over to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for deportation proceedings. Nine of Torres’ co-defendants have previously been sentenced to probationary or prison sentences, and two are expected to be sentenced to prison terms later this month.
The Volusia Bureau of Investigation is a multi-agency task force that pools resources from eight local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to target mid and upper level narcotics traffickers.