Police Union Executive Director Charged With Importing Thousands Of Illegal Pills

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The Executive Director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association (SJPOA) was recently charged with what is allegedly some pretty brazen criminal activity.

Joanne Marian Segovia, 64, was charged by the Office of the United States Attorney on March 27th with attempting to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl. Valeryl fentanyl is a relatively new synthetic opioid.

United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King claim in a press release that Segovia “used her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioid and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States.”

The complaint alleges that between October 2015 and January 2023, Segovia had at least 61 shipments mailed to her home, originating from countries including Hong Kong, Hungary, India, and Singapore. The manifests for these shipments declared their contents with labels like “Wedding Party Favors,” “Gift Makeup,” or “Chocolate and Sweets.” But between July 2019 and January 2023, officials intercepted and opened five of these shipments and found that they contained thousands of pills of controlled substances, including the synthetic opioids Tramadol and Tapentadol. Certain parcels were valued at thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs.

Also alleged is that Segovia used encrypted WhatsApp communications to plan the logistics for receiving and sending pill shipments. For example, the complaint describes a three-year period between January 2020 and March 2023 during which Segovia is alleged to have exchanged hundreds of messages with someone using a phone with an India country code. The messages discussed details for shipping and payment of pills and contained hundreds of pictures of tablets, shipping labels, packaging, payment receipts, and payment confirmations.

On top of all that, prosecutors also claim Segovia used her office at the San Jose Police Officers’ Association to distribute the illegal pills.

“For example, in spring 2021, Segovia was told by a supplier to send a package to a woman in North Carolina. Segovia then sent this supplier a photograph of a shipment made using the UPS account of San Jose Police Officers’ Association,” the press release states.

Even more brazen, the complaint against Segovia alleges that she continued to order controlled substances even after being interviewed by federal investigators in February 2023.

If convicted, the San Jose Police Officers’ Association Police Union Executive Director faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.