REPORT FROM THE US ATTORNEY – Mario Cesar Torres, age 56, of Waipahu, was found guilty today of federal drug offenses by a federal jury after a trial before United States District Judge J. Michael Seabright. The guilty verdicts were returned the same day jury deliberations began on three methamphetamine distribution charges and a related conspiracy charge, each alleging a quantity of 50 grams or more.
Florence T. Nakakuni, United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii, said that Torres faces a mandatory minimum prison term of at least ten years and up to life imprisonment for each of the four counts when he is sentenced on June 3, 2013. According to evidence produced during the trial, from August 2010 to January 2011, Torres delivered approximately one pound quantities of methamphetamine on two occasions and was the driver on a third transaction in which a passenger in his vehicle delivered approximately one pound of methamphetamine.
The case was the culmination of a joint investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Honolulu Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark A. Inciong.