Fentanyl dealer sentenced after a year of run-ins with police, 3 trials

Carlos Pacheco had run-ins with authorities on three occasions in 2021, escaping from law enforcement each time until he was arrested and charged with drugs and weapons offenses and recently sentenced for the crimes.

The 33-year-old had his first encounter on Jan. 1, 2021, when he was stopped by military police as he attempted to enter Luke Air Force Base, according to a release from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, which announced his sentencing.

Police said he had a backpack between his legs and an AR-15 rifle in his vehicle. He fought police when they asked him to leave the vehicle and escaped.

The backpack contained more than 1,000 fentanyl pills and $2,000 cash, authorities said.

Then, according to MCAO:

• On July 25, an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper found Pacheco asleep at the wheel in the center lane of an interstate off-ramp in Phoenix. When the trooper attempted wake him and remove him from the vehicle, Pacheco fled the scene.
• On Dec 21, a Phoenix police officer saw Pacheco selling fentanyl in a hotel parking lot. Pacheco traveled across Phoenix and, after realizing he was being watched, dropped off his girlfriend with a backpack containing 1,500 fentanyl pills and $2,700 cash. He continued to run from police for more than an hour before he was arrested. Police found an additional $7,060 in cash in the vehicle.

At the time he committed the offenses, Pacheco was a prohibited possessor, which means he could not legally own or possess a gun or any other weapon that is designed for lethal use.

Over the course of three separate trials, Pacheco was found guilty of the following:

• One count of sale or transportation of narcotic drugs.
• One count of misconduct involving weapons.
• One count of possession of drug paraphernalia.
• One count of unlawful flight from law enforcement.
• One count of possession of narcotic drugs for sale.
• One count of money laundering in the second degree.

He was sentenced to 17.5 years, MCAO officials said.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org .