Document text
Since You Asked: Two men arrested in pot bust face deportation Saturday Dec 16, 2017 at 12:01 AM A few months ago, the Mail Tribune reported a story about three Hispanic men who committed some pretty serious marijuana crimes. I knew one of those men as "Adrian Rivera," who did lawn work for me.  Has anything been determined in their cases? His arrest was a total shock for me and my wife. — John H., Medford Adrian Rivera-Espinosa, 42, one three men accused of felonies after they allegedly attempted to take a car to settle a drug debt, is scheduled to change his plea in January, according to court records. Rivera-Espinosa, of Medford, previously pleaded not-guilty to felony counts of first- and second-degree kidnapping, and first- and second-degree robbery, Jackson County Circuit Court records show. Medford police say Rivera-Espinosa allegedly joined Rafael Olivera Valencia and Jose Alfredo Butanda, of Corning, California, to intimidate Cesar Andres Olmedo-Pena into paying them or giving up his car Sept. 16. Valencia and Butanda also face felony robbery and kidnapping charges in Jackson County, and all three suspects remain lodged in Jackson County Jail. The robbery, first reported as a carjacking, sparked a major marijuana raid at Rivera-Espinosa's house at 1129 Pinecroft Ave., and about 180 pounds of marijuana plants were seized from the location, according to news reports. In November, Rivera-Espinosa and Valencia were charged in U.S. District Court in Medford with illegally re-entering the United States. A fingerprint examiner confirmed their identities, court documents say. Rivera-Espinosa had been deported once before, in 2004, a year after being convicted in Eugene federal court of distributing cocaine, according to a court document filed by a deportation officer. Valencia was deported in 2005 following convictions in Glenn County, California, for possessing methamphetamine and battery of a police officer. He was also convicted of illegally re-entering the United States in 2014 in U.S. District Court in eastern California. — Send questions to “Since You Asked,” Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; by fax to 541-776-4376; or by email to [email protected]. We’re sorry, but the volume of questions received prevents us from answering all of them.