14 months for Honduran caught selling drugs in Tenderloin armed with .38 Special revolver
A Honduran drug dealer, found with a revolver after selling methamphetamine to an undercover police officer in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment today at the city’s federal courthouse.
Luis Murillo-Galiano, 28, was arrested on January 15 shortly after handing over the narcotic near the intersection of Mason and Market streets. In a search police found more methamphetamine, 20 grams of fentanyl and a Taurus .38 Special revolver with seven rounds of ammunition in a pouch.
“These are not huge amounts,” said U.S. District Judge James Donato today of the defendant’s drugs, “but they are much larger than most of the Tenderloin people I see…he also had a firearm.”
“What this tells me is that he was not a novice. He was someone who had been doing this for a while and was trusted to some extent by whoever was supplying him with the narcotics.”
“I am also concerned that the defendant has reentered the United States more than once…He’s a repeat player and I don’t think he is getting the message.”
Murillo-Galiano earlier pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Murillo-Galiano’s record goes back more than a decade. He was arrested for immigration offenses in 2012, 2016 and 2018, and in 2018 he was convicted of illegal entry. He was also arrested for possession of drugs with intent to sell in 2016 but was never charged. In their sentencing memo, prosecutors admitted he had been “undeterred by multiple removals” from coming back to the U.S. to sell narcotics. They argued he had never served significant time. They also said he grew up poor in Honduras, left school in second grade and started working at 12 to support his family.
Today in courtroom 11 of San Francisco Federal Courthouse, Judge Donato expressed skepticism about a joint defense and prosecution recommendation that he impose a 366-day sentence. He instead opted to impose a 14-month term. which should see Murillo-Galiano serve another six months.
The judge asked Government attorney Benjamin Farkas to guarantee that Murillo-Galiano would be deported at the end of his sentence. He pointed to a recent case in which an inmate who was meant to be transferred to immigration authorities for deportation, after benefiting from a “sweetheart arrangement” with prosecutors, was not handed over and remained in the country.
“I think that fundamentally pulls the rug out from under the whole Tenderloin program,” said the judge, referring to federal prosecutors’ lenient ‘fast-track’ scheme for Honduran fentanyl dealers.
“No jail time, plus you get to stay in the U.S. – who wouldn’t take that deal?” he asked.
Farkas was ordered to submit a note to the court by the end of the week confirming that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been advised of the case.
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