Joanne Segovia is being charged with attempt to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl.
A California police union executive is being charged with attempt to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl, according to theU.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Joanne Marian Segovia, a top executive for San Jose’s police union, is accused of using both her personal and work computers to order opioids and other pills between October 2015 to January 2023 and agreeing to distribute them elsewhere in the U.S.
As the U.S. Attorney’s Office shares, she’s accused of having at least 61 shipments mailed to her home from places like Hong Kong, Hungary, India and Singapore.
Five of the packages, shipped under the guise of “Wedding Party Favors,” “Gift Makeup,” or “Chocolate and Sweets,” were intercepted between July 2019 and January 2023 and found to contain synthetic opioids such as Tramadol and Tapentadol — with some packages being worth thousands of dollars.
Segovia, 64, is accused of using WhatsApp to communicate with somebody with an India phone number between January 2020 and March 2023 — with messages mentioning shipments and photos of tablets and packages. She is also accused of using her office at the San Jose Police Officers' Association to distribute substances, per the U.S. Attorney’s Office. When a supplier asked her to send a package to someone in North Carolina in spring 2021, she allegedly sent them a photograph of a shipment made using the San Jose Police Officers' Association’s UPS account.
According toa complaint that was unsealed Tuesdayand theSan Francisco Standard, the union executive wasapprehended as partof a Homeland Security investigation into substances being shipped into the Bay Area.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
While being interviewed on March 14, Segovia claimed she had nothing to do with the orders sent to her and blamed it on a family friend and housekeeper, adding “it all leads to her.” She claimed the person was suffering from a substance abuse disorder, per the complaint.
Will Edelman, who was listed as Segovia’s defense attorney in court records, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Even after federal officers interviewed her in February 2023, another shipment addressed to her was seized in Kentucky containing valeryl fentanyl.
The San Jose Police Officers' Association did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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.
source: people.com
