San Jose police union executive director charged with attempting to smuggle fentanyl into US
Conrad Hoyt
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The executive director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association (SJPOA) has been charged with attempting to illegally import a controlled substance in connection with a scheme to smuggle and distribute synthetic opioids into the United States.
United States Attorney Ismail Ramsey and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King announced the federal criminal complaint against Joanne Segovia for on Wednesday. The complaint alleges that Segovia, 64, used her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioids and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs across the U.S.
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Segovia, of San Jose, is charged with attempting to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl. She is alleged to have had at least 61 shipments mailed to her home from October 2015 to January 2023 from countries/regions including Hong Kong, Hungary, India, and Singapore. The mailing documents were labeled as “Wedding Party Favors,” “Gift Makeup,” or “Chocolate and Sweets.”
However, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California said from July 2019 onward, officials intercepted and opened five of the shipments and found that they contained thousands of pills of controlled substances, including the synthetic opioids tramadol and tapentadol, with certain containers of drugs estimated to be worth thousands of dollars.
“The complaint alleges that Segovia was apprehended as part of an ongoing Homeland Security investigation into a network that was shipping controlled substances into the San Francisco Bay Area from abroad,” the office wrote.
Segovia is accused of sending hundreds of messages to someone using a phone with an Indian country code regarding shipping and receiving the mail and that she used her office at the San Jose Police Officers’ Association to distribute the drugs.
“For example, in spring 2021, Segovia was told by a supplier to send a package to a woman in North Carolina. Segovia then sent this supplier a photograph of a shipment made using the UPS account of San Jose Police Officers’ Association,” the attorney’s office wrote.
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If convicted, Segovia faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years, according to Ramsey and King, who added that as part of any sentence, the court may order her to serve at least 3 years of supervised release and to pay a fine of up to $250,000.
“Joanne is a professional and competent manager and contact. She is always informed of conditions which effect her group,” a recommendation on Segovia’s LinkedIn profile reads.