DOJ Hands Down Decisions
Grand Jury for the District of Nebraska
United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced the federal Grand Jury for the District of Nebraska has returned two (2) unsealed Indictments charging two defendants. Indictments are charging documents that contain one or more individual counts that are merely accusations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Richard Naslund, age 34, of Kearney, Nebraska, is charged with escape on or about April 17, 2024. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is up to 5 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a 3-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.
Larry Moss, age 21, of Omaha, Nebraska, is charged in a two-count Indictment. Count I charges Moss with distribution of 10 grams or more of an analogue of fentanyl on or about September 13, 2023. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is not less than 5 years’ and up to 40 years’ imprisonment, a $5,000,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not less than 4 years, and a $100 special assessment. Count II charges Moss with being a felon in possession of a firearm on or about March 27, 2024. The maximum possible penalty if convicted is up to 15 years’ imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a term of supervised release of not less than 3 years, and a $100 special assessment.
Foreign National Sentenced to Over 4 1/2 Years for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine
United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Rafael Perea Arce aka Rafael Parea Arce, age 27, of Mexico, was sentenced on September 19, 2024, in federal court in Lincoln, Nebraska for one count of possession with the intent to distribute 50 grams or more of actual meth. United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Perea Arce to a total of 55 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After Perea Arce’s release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release.
On November 30, 2023, a Nebraska State Patrol trooper pulled over a vehicle for a suspended vehicle registration on Interstate 80 in Hall County, Nebraska. The driver was identified by his Mexico driver’s license as Rafael Perea Arce. During the stop, Perea Arce admitted that he had drugs in the vehicle that he was transporting them from Arizona to Minnesota. The trooper searched the vehicle and found a large duffle bag that contained 45 individual packages containing a white crystalline substance.
The white crystalline substance was sent to the State Patrol Crime Lab and they confirmed that each package contained meth. The total weight of the meth was just under 20 kilograms. The Crime Lab tested one of the packages for purity. The meth in that package weighed 449 grams. It was 95.6 % pure and contained at least 410 grams of meth actual.
This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.
