SFPD outflanks sanctuary rules to arrange deportation of Honduran fentanyl dealer set free by San Francisco judge
A Honduran fentanyl dealer whose release by a San Francisco judge within days of his arrest prompted an SFPD officer to immediately ink a federal arrest warrant and steer him into the U.S. Attorney’s ‘fast track’ deportation program, was convicted and sent for removal today.
Jhonatan Santiago-Diaz, 22, was arrested late on June 17 2026 after selling narcotics to a female undercover cop in the SOMA neighborhood. He was found with fentanyl, a digital scale and more than $1,200 cash.
An alleged accomplice, Vincent Edwardo Rodriguez, was also arrested.
Today before U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley Santiago-Diaz pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, was sentenced to ‘time served plus one day’ and told he would be deported.
“The government is offering you an enormous break here,” said Judge Corley. “This conduct is incredibly harmful and it’s also taking advantage of the most vulnerable in our community.”
“When you learn of other people who are talking about, maybe, coming to the United States to deal drugs, tell them it is not the right thing to do. It is terribly callous and mean, taking advantage of these vulnerable people, but also it will not end up well for them, as it did not end up well for you.”
Santiago-Diaz spoke briefly through a Spanish interpreter to promise he would not return to the U.S.
The federal prosecution came hard on the heels of a decision by San Francisco Judge Lianne Dumas to release Santiago-Diaz on an ankle monitor at his June 24 arraignment on drugs charges.
He pleaded not guilty at that hearing to two felony charges of possession and sale of fentanyl.
Two days later SFPD Officer John Murphy – an investigator in the department’s narcotics unit – filed a criminal complaint and obtained an arrest warrant from U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim. On July 6 2026 Santiago-Diaz was brought before a federal judge.
Murphy is also a member of a Drug Enforcement Administration task force. The device of city officers wearing a ‘second hat’ as federal task force members allows them to circumvent local sanctuary rules when they want to and permits arm’s-length cooperation with immigration officials.
Santiago-Diaz was dealt with as a ‘fast track’ case – federal prosecutors’ program which aims to secure immediate guilty pleas and agreement to be deported from foreign drug dealers, to avoid the prospect of severe sentences in district court. The ailing scheme has suffered numerous reverses as, time after time, those deported have simply returned and continued peddling narcotics.
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