Jesse Santiago Anaya Gets 16 Years Prison For Selling Drugs To Undercover Agents

DENVER (CBS4) -- An investigation that started with drug sales in Colorado Springs night clubs and strip clubs and peaked as undercover agents made several purchases of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroine within a span of six months reached its conclusion in a courtroom Monday.

A federal judge in Denver sentenced Jesse Santiago Anaya, 36, to serve 200 months in federal prison on Monday.

According to court documents, Anaya oversaw the distribution of the drugs and took a larger profit from the sales than his co-conspirators.

During the course of the investigation, Anaya and his group sold 1,341.4 grams of methamphetamine, 83.4 grams of heroin, and between 500 grams and 15 kilograms of cocaine.

The first undercover purchase from Anaya's group occurred in March of 2018. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in May of 2019.

In his plea agreement, Anaya admitted that the conspiracy to distribute cocaine began while he was still on supervised release for a prior federal felony conviction.

An online search of criminal records indicates Anaya was sentenced to 44 months in the Colorado Department of Corrections following two arrests for cultivating and distributing marijuana.

"Getting drug dealers off the street makes a real difference to the communities we serve," said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn.

Anaya's record also includes 2005 and 2016 arrests for multiple counts of sexual assault, but those cases resulted in very light sentences of community service, work release and probation.

The Colorado Springs Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Southern Colorado Safe Streets Task Force and Colorado Springs Metro Vice, Narcotics, and Intelligence Division contributed to the operation and investigation.

The U.S. Attorney General's Office added that one of Anaya's associates was also indicted for distributing cocaine and conspiracy. Court documents show Brett Caraballo was that associate.