Police Union Leader Charged with Importing Opioids
- Guest Writer
- Mar 30, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 10, 2023
Joanne Marian Segovia, a high-ranking executive of San Jose's police union, has been charged with attempting to illegally import valeryl fentanyl, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
Segovia is accused of using her personal and work computers to order opioids and other pills from various countries between October 2015 to January 2023 and agreeing to distribute them within the US.
She is alleged to have received at least 61 packages, sent under different guises, such as "Wedding Party Favors," "Gift Makeup," or "Chocolate and Sweets," from countries like Hong Kong, Hungary, India, and Singapore, with five of them containing synthetic opioids worth thousands of dollars, intercepted between July 2019 and January 2023.
The 64-year-old executive is also accused of using WhatsApp to communicate with someone from India between January 2020 and March 2023, exchanging messages mentioning shipments and sharing photos of tablets and packages.
Furthermore, she allegedly used her office at the San Jose Police Officers' Association to distribute substances and was caught sending a shipment made using the association's UPS account in spring 2021 when a supplier asked her to send a package to someone in North Carolina.
Segovia was apprehended as part of a Homeland Security investigation into substances being shipped into the Bay Area, and a complaint was unsealed on Tuesday.
During an interview on March 14, Segovia denied having anything to do with the orders and blamed a family friend and housekeeper, who she claimed had a substance abuse disorder, per the complaint. However, even after federal officers interviewed her in February 2023, another shipment addressed to her was seized in Kentucky, containing valeryl fentanyl. Will Edelman,
Tom Saggau, a spokesperson for the San Jose Police Officers' Association, stated that they were fully cooperating with federal authorities, and Segovia had been placed on leave.
He further added that no other individual at the association was involved or had prior knowledge of the alleged acts.
The Board of Directors expressed their disappointment at the news and pledged to provide their full support to the investigative authorities.
Segovia faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, with a potential 3 years of supervised release and up to $250,000 in fines.
