Eight months’ federal prison for Honduran who continued selling drugs after nine-day San Francisco sentence failed to deter him

An illegal alien drug trafficker who sold methamphetamine to all comers in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, while on probation, was given an eight-month prison term today at the city’s federal courthouse.

Santos Valle-Corea was caught selling narcotics to an undercover SFPD officer in April 2025. He earlier pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute drugs.

At the time of his arrest, the Honduran national was on probation following a 2024 conviction in San Francisco for drug dealing, for which he served nine days in jail.

“What I’m concerned about is that he was already on notice that his conduct was not legal, in light of his prior controlled-substance conviction, and it is a major point against him,” said U.S. District Judge James Donato this morning.

The court was told the defendant had also been arrested twice for drug dealing in 2023, and for domestic battery in 2024, but no charges were filed.

Prosecutors said that Valle-Corea illegally entered the U.S. three times in 2019 alone.

Attorneys for Valle-Corea, 35, claimed that he came to the U.S. to escape a life “marked by hunger, violence and fear” and to send money back to his seven children in Honduras.

“I’d like to say I’m sorry for having sold drugs, for I know that harms the community,” Valle-Corea told the court through a Spanish interpreter. “My family has also been affected by what happened.”

“When I go back to my country…I will work and stay with my kids,” he added.

Judge Donato told Valle-Corea that he faces deportation on completing his sentence which, practically speaking, will see him spending three more months in custody.

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