Barrera sentenced for selling cocaine

The last of a trio caught trafficking cocaine out of their Sparta Street apartment back in 2004 has been sentenced to eight years.

The defendant, Darvin Orellana Barrera, was ordered to serve 180 days of an eight-year sentence and pay a $2,000 drug fine for possession of cocaine. He joins co-defendants, Efren Mendoza and Candace Renee Gordon, both of whom have already served similar fractions of their eight-year sentences.

They were arrested when sheriff?s deputies arrived at their door at Genesis Apartments after receiving information drug activity was happening at the residence. Once inside, investigators reported finding 53 baggies of a substance believed to be crack cocaine hidden in a bathroom drawer. Another larger bag of uncut substance was also found, bringing the total weight of the bust to 14.7 grams.

The fact there were numerous individual baggies or containers of cocaine prompted lawmen to suspect the three were holding the cocaine for purposes of trafficking. The amount of the drug, being dramatically more than .5 grams, made the crime a more serious felony, which carries eight to 12 years in prison.