SAN DIEGO - A man arrested in connection with a drug sweep at San Diego State University and nearby fraternities pleaded guilty Monday to possession for sale of cocaine and was immediately sentenced to three years in prison.
Superior Court Judge David Danielsen ordered Omar Arce Castaneda, who never attended SDSU, to register as a narcotics offender.
Prosecutors alleged that the 37-year-old defendant was a cocaine distributor who acted as a middleman between students and Mexican drug cartels, and that he was a documented gang member from Pomona.
Prosecutors also filed a sentencing enhancement alleging he had more than a kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of cocaine in his possession when he was taken into custody.
Defense attorney Vikas Bajaj said plea negotiations with the District Attorney's Office were reopened recently after he filed a motion to suppress evidence.
A re-weighing of the cocaine seized from Castaneda turned out to be less than a kilo and prosecutors dismissed that allegation, Bajaj said. An allegation that Castaneda had a prior conviction for selling cocaine was also dismissed, the defense attorney said.
Castaneda was arrested in May, along with dozens of SDSU students and non-students, after a yearlong undercover investigation into drug dealing on campus.
Almost all of the defendants were sentenced to probation or placed into drug diversion programs after pleading guilty. Others had their cases dismissed or received citations.
The investigation was prompted by the overdose death of a 19-year-old SDSU freshman, who attended a sorority party in May 2007 and died the next day, An autopsy found she had cocaine in her system.
