Federal Judges Sentence Four Men This Week

Federal judges sentenced four men this week for crimes of murder-for-hire, methamphetamine, and illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien, according to a news release from the Wyoming U.S. Attorney's Office.

Andrew Lambert Silicani, 23, of Cheyenne was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal on Thursday on four counts of using of interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.

 
James Robert Ford, 49, of Rock Springs was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl on Wednesday for conspiracy to distribute between 50 and 200 grams of methamphetamine and for possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun.  He received four years, nine months imprisonment, to be followed by three years of probation. This case was investigated by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), which includes the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.

 
U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson on Monday sentenced Juan Jose Cortez-Becerra, 38, and Lazaro Fernandez-Vargas, 40, of Mexico, for illegal re-entry of a previously deported alien into the United States. Cortez-Becerra and Fernandez-Vargas were arrested in Jackson. They received time served, plus 10 days, and are subject to deportation upon release from custody. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated these cases.