Honduran fugitive gets 10 month federal sentence for more drug dealing in San Francisco

August 19, 2024

An illegal alien on-the-lam after skipping court in San Francisco on a drugs case, and on probation after a felony conviction for opening fire with a gun and exposing himself to a homeless girl after she rejected his advances, received a ‘time served’ ten and a half month sentence today after his latest drugs arrest.

Jose Garcia Acosta was arrested on October 3 2023 by SFPD officers who observed him making hand-to-hand drugs sales at the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Eddy Street in the city’s Tenderloin district.

The 23-year-old Honduran national was found with small quantities of fentanyl and methamphetamine. Nearby, police found a brown bag in which they found 148g of heroin, 80g of methamphetamine and 65g of cocaine.

“I will accept a sentence of time served as proposed by both sides,” said U.S. District Judge James Donato this afternoon, “so the sentence will be time served plus one court day.”

Acosta had an open arrest warrant after failing to appear in San Francisco Superior Court in connection with drug arrests in the city in November 2022 and May 2023. He was also on felony probation after March 28 2023 episode in Alameda County in which he opened fire and exposed himself when a homeless woman refused his advances. He received a sentence of two years’ probation for that conduct.

The defendant had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. The court was told that he will be handed over to officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation proceedings.

Also today the court heard that another Honduran drug dealer, 18-year-old Delver Sandrez-Cruz, was a victim of human trafficking. He had been told there was legitmate work awaiting him in the United States, his attorney said, but found himself $11,000 in debt to the traffickers who threatened both him and his family back in Honduras with death if it was not paid. As such he began dealing drugs.

SFPD arrested him on the evening of May 30 on the 800 block of Hyde Street after he sold fentanyl to an undercover officer. He was found with fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine.

While his attorneys prepare the ground for Sandrez-Cruz’s to apply for a ‘T Visa’ – which allows victims of human trafficking to remain in the country for up to four years – and/or for Special Immigration Juvenile Status which would allow him to apply for a green card, they asserted his right to a speedy trial on one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. The court was told that the defendant may run a defense of duress.

Judge Donato set October 28 2024 as the trial date.

The case continues.