Burbank : Pair Face Life Terms in Drug Conviction

Two San Fernando Valley men were convicted in federal court Friday of trying to sell enough methamphetamine to keep a user continuously high for 256 years--a crime that could keep them imprisoned for the rest of their lives, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Humberto Estrada-Bombela, 30, and Jose Sigala-Lomeli, 40, were each found guilty of one count of conspiracy to distribute the illegal drug and one count of possessing it with intention to sell. Estrada-Bombela was also found guilty of possessing a loaded gun during the crime, Assistant U.S. Atty. Anthony Pacheco said.

The men--whom Pacheco described as mid-level wholesalers of the potent drug--face a minimum 10 years in federal prison and a maximum sentence of life behind bars, Pacheco added. They were convicted Friday by a U.S. District Court jury in Los Angeles.

Arrested during an undercover sting in Burbank carried out by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, Sigala-Lomeli had been caught trying to negotiate the sale of 20 pounds of methamphetamine. The amount and purity could have reaped $1.4 million to $2.8 million on the street, Pacheco said.

But Estrada-Bombela and a third defendant--35-year-old Sergio Valencia-Valenzuela--were accused of being lookouts during the deal and their depth of knowledge was harder to prove, the prosecutor continued.

In fact, Valencia-Valenzuela, of Pacoima, was acquitted Friday.

The three defendants were among six men arrested March 28 in the parking lot of the Bombay Bicycle Club in Burbank. One suspect, Jose Jesus Gonzalez of San Fernando, was released on his own recognizance, disappeared and remains missing. Two others--Juan Carlos Ceron of Van Nuys and Noel Quintero of Panorama City--have pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession with intent to sell the drug and are awaiting sentencing.

The remaining three--Estrada-Bombela, Sigala-Lomeli and Valencia-Valenzuela--went to court last June in a trial that ended in a hung jury.

The partly successful retrial that ended Friday lasted two weeks. Sigala-Lomeli, of Sylmar, is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 16. Estrada-Bombela, of Van Nuys, is scheduled for sentencing Dec. 26. Both are in federal custody.