Deportation beckons for foreign national drug dealer repeatedly released in San Francisco

November 26, 2024

An illegal alien drug dealer released by a San Francisco court after being arrested with half a kilo of fentanyl, released once more after violating a stay away order, then caught selling more drugs, was sentenced this morning in U.S. District Court after federal authorities took over the prosecution.

Olman Arteaga was first spotted by SFPD officers peddling narcotics with an accomplice outside the main branch of San Francisco library in the city’s Civic Center on August 29 2024. He admitted to possessing 482 grams of fentanyl and smaller quantities of methamphetamine and heroin.

His is the latest case in which local officials’ aversion to keeping foreign drug traffickers off the streets – or to simply arrange to have them deported – has resulted in more harm to those in the throes of addiction and more harm to the reputation of the state judicial system.

In a short hearing before U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, Arteaga pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and was given a ‘time served plus one day’ sentence with a view to his prompt removal to Honduras.

Within days of his August arrest Arteaga was released by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Wine and told to stay away from the place where he was arrested.

One month later he was arrested for breaching that order after police found him in the vicinity of the library. He was ordered released after two days.

On October 17, just over a month later, Arteaga was arrested for selling fentanyl at the intersection of Market and Fell Streets. Evidently unwilling to take further chances federal prosecutors charged Arteaga and San Francisco District Attorney’s office moved to dismiss his state case on November 4 2024.

Today’s plea by the 21-year-old Arteaga came as part of the ‘Fast Track’ scheme seen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a key plank in its effort to tackle drug dealing by foreigners in San Francisco.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer agreed to hand the Honduran national a ‘time served plus one day’ sentence on the understanding that he would be delivered to immigration authorities for deportation.

In his sentencing memorandum Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Pastor acknowledged that, given the quantity of drugs Arteaga admitted possessing, he would ordinarily expect to receive a prison term of between 57 and 71 months.

An attorney for Arteaga told the court that he had crossed the border near Tijuana in Mexico and had been in the country since he was 18. They said that he was not able to earn enough to sustain himself by legitimate means and so he turned to drug trafficking in San Francisco to supplement his income.

Also today: Honduran David Acosta-Artiaga pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl having been arrested in San Francisco on October 2 2024. The 20-year-old was handed a ‘time served plus one business day’ sentence by Judge Breyer with the expectation that he would be delivered to immigration officials for deportation.