Las Vegas man sentenced to 15 years in federal drug sting

A federal judge reluctantly sentenced a Las Vegas man to 15 years in prison Wednesday for conspiring to rob a drug house.

U.S. District Judge James Mahan said mandatory minimum sentences for the crimes committed by Alfredo Flores had tied his hands in the case.

"It's one of those unfortunate cases where the mandatory minimum just doesn't give me any wiggle room," the judge said.

Mahan's ruling means Flores, 25, will spend nearly the same amount of time behind bars as Christopher Sangalang, the 36-year-old leader of the scheme.

The case stemmed from a controversial sting operation conducted by undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. During the investigation, dubbed Operation Sin City Ink, agents set up a tattoo parlor.

Defense attorneys alleged the agents engaged in outrageous behavior, including entrapment and drug use.

"I think that the court's rulings, the jury's verdicts and the sentences have vindicated our agents, who put themselves at great personal risk to lock up violent gang members," said Thomas Chittum III, resident agent in charge of the ATF's Las Vegas office.

The investigation led to federal charges against 14 defendants, and Flores was the last to be sentenced. Chittum, who attended Flores' sentencing, said all 14 defendants were convicted, either through guilty pleas or through jury verdicts.

A jury convicted Sangalang, Flores and Deandre Patton, then 33, in April 2010 of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

ATF agents arrested the defendants May 15, 2008, the day of the planned robbery.

Agents recovered firearms, ammunition, knives, fake police badges, ski masks, a police scanner, gloves and flex handcuffs from a total of six suspects.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen Bliss and defense attorney Anthony Brooklier agreed that Flores was the least culpable of the three defendants who went to trial in the case.

At a hearing in April, Brooklier said his client comes from a good family and had only a minor criminal record before joining the conspiracy.

"Look at him; he's a kid, basically," the lawyer told Mahan at the time.

Mahan called Flores a "victim of bad timing."

Had he been sentenced first, the judge said, his penalty could have served as a benchmark for the other defendants' sentences.

"He's the last one to be sentenced, and he's the least culpable," Mahan said in April.

The judge postponed Flores' sentencing hearing until Wednesday and imposed the defendant's prison term after no one offered him a legal alternative to the mandatory minimum sentences.

Three other co-defendants in the case previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery.

Court records show that Sangalang and Patton were convicted in two federal cases and received total prison terms of about 18 years each.

"I think the length of these sentences shows the seriousness of the crimes they committed," Chittum said.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.