Former EPPD officer sentenced to 2 years in prison for drug conspiracy
EL PASO, Texas - A former El Paso Police Department officer was sentenced to 24 months in prison Thursday after she plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved house.
24-year-old Monica Garcia reportedly conspired with her stepfather, Fred Saenz, to sell cocaine out of his house. Garcia is accused of using her intel in the El Paso Police Department to help Saenz avoid being caught. One of the ways she did this was by running license plates to figure out which ones belonged to undercover officers.
1.2 kg of cocaine and over $14,000 in cash were raided from Saenz's house in November of 2020 after undercover officers bought cocaine from him. Saenz was eventually sentenced to 42 months in prison after pleading guilty to another conspiracy charge; this one being conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute.
The El Paso Police Department and the D.E.A. are credited with working together to catch both Garcia and Saenz. U.S. Attorney Ashely C. Hoff stated that the sentencing is "a message that corruption, at any level, will not be tolerated."
