Pennsylvania drug supplier sentenced to 12 years in prison

PHILADELPHIA – A drug supplier who flew from Texas to Philadelphia for years with cocaine strapped to his body to supply drug dealers in Chester County, Pennsylvania, was sentenced Thursday to 144 months in federal prison. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) conducted the long-term investigation that led to the sentencing.

Arthur Office, 45, from Houston, Texas, pleaded guilty April 1, 2015, to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 280 grams or more of cocaine.

During an undercover investigation of a co-conspirator, Omar Vasquez, in March 2008, Vasquez was stopped by police while driving in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  He and a passenger fled, and they threw crack cocaine from their vehicle windows while police were pursuing them.  Police recovered about 128 grams of cocaine from the highway.  HSI special agents then searched Vasquez’s car and home, recovering more drugs and money. The agents were able to trace the source of the cocaine to Arthur Office of Houston, Texas. 

An investigation revealed Office was supplying cocaine to other drug dealers in Chester County since the late 1990s to 2009.  For several years, Office regularly flew from Texas to Philadelphia personally carrying several kilograms of cocaine strapped to his body.  On two occasions in 2008 and 2009, on his way back to Texas from Philadelphia International Airport, HSI agents seized over $80,000 in U.S. currency from Office. 

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Stengel ordered five years of supervised release, a $100 special assessment, and a fine of $2,500.

The case was investigated by HSI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Lancaster Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Police.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James R. Pavlock.