TALLAHASSEE — A 40-year-old illegal alien with a prior federal conviction for smuggling people into the United States was sentenced to 30 years in a Florida prison after a jury found him guilty of trafficking fentanyl for a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization, Attorney General James Uthmeier announced.
Cesar Caldera-Garcia was convicted on all counts — trafficking in fentanyl over 28 grams and conspiracy to traffic in fentanyl over 28 grams — each carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years. Judge Frederick Mercurio handed down the 30-year sentence the same day the jury returned its verdict.
“This illegal alien was bringing lethal amounts of fentanyl into our country and smuggling humans over the southern border, but California decided he was deserving of a driver’s license,” said Attorney General Uthmeier. “Anyone who traffics these dangerous drugs in Florida will be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
The case grew out of an undercover investigation the Florida Department of Law Enforcement launched in November 2023 into a drug trafficking organization based in Mexico. Investigators determined members of the organization were smuggling fentanyl into the United States through the southern border. During the investigation, the organization agreed to sell over 10 kilos of fentanyl powder and approximately 50,000 fentanyl pills. Caldera-Garcia traveled to Florida to open a distribution cell and sell 3 kilograms of fentanyl powder and 20,000 fentanyl pills.
Investigators confirmed Caldera-Garcia’s identity through a California driver’s license he obtained as an illegal alien. He also had a prior federal conviction from 2006 for smuggling people into the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol arrested Caldera-Garcia, and the case was prosecuted by the Office of Statewide Prosecution in the Twelfth Judicial Circuit of Florida.
Uthmeier credited Assistant Statewide Prosecutors Paul Thomas and Taryn Vaughn for securing the verdict. Caldera-Garcia will serve his 30-year sentence in the Florida Department of Corrections.