A 36-year-old Tucson man will spend more than six years behind bars after admitting he ran an armed cocaine distribution operation, moving more than six kilograms of the drug while keeping firearms on hand. Senior U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins sentenced Roman Emilio Rascon Jr. to 78 months in federal prison last Tuesday, followed by five years of supervised release, after Rascon pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the case traces back to Rascon's arrest in Tucson in August 2024. As part of his guilty plea, the court ordered Rascon to forfeit vehicles, firearms, ammunition, and drug proceeds accumulated during the operation. The FBI Phoenix field office confirmed the sentencing on social media, noting that Rascon distributed the cocaine while armed.
As part of the conspiracy, Roman Emilio Rascon Jr., 36, of Tucson, Arizona, distributed more than six kilograms of cocaine and possessed firearms when he... https://t.co/LSZcrOdDlu
How the Case Moved Through Federal Court
Federal court records reviewed by PacerMonitor show Rascon's case, numbered 4:24-cr-05214, was opened in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona in August 2024, with defense representation provided by retained attorneys from Suzuki Law Offices. The docket indicates the case began with an initial appearance and detention hearing before federal magistrate judges in Tucson before eventually landing before Judge Collins, a Bill Clinton nominee to the federal bench in 1998 who later served as Chief Judge of the District of Arizona from 2013 to 2018 after starting his legal career as a Pima County prosecutor.
Local outlet KVOA News 4 reported that Rascon admitted to running an armed cocaine distribution network directly within the Tucson area, underscoring the local reach of the operation federal investigators dismantled.
Why the Charges Carry Mandatory Prison Time
The combination of charges Rascon faced is significant under federal law. Conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison up to life imprisonment, according to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, citing 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A). Separately, federal statute 18 U.S.C. § 924(c) mandates a minimum sentence of five years for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, a term that must be served consecutively to any prison time imposed for the underlying narcotics offense, per the Congressional Research Service.
Because federal parole was abolished under the Sentencing Reform Act, Rascon will have to serve at least 85 percent of his 78-month term, as Hoodline has previously explained in a related sentencing. Unlike many state sentences, federal terms carry no negotiable early-release option, meaning the prison time imposed is effectively a firm commitment.
A Broader Federal Push in Southern Arizona
Rascon's prosecution was carried out under the Homeland Security Task Force initiative, created pursuant to Executive Order 14159, signed on January 20, 2025, to target criminal cartels, gangs, and transnational trafficking organizations. The Tucson investigation into Rascon brought together a coalition of agencies including the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, the ATF, the U.S. Marshals Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, reflecting the scale of interagency coordination now routine along Arizona's border corridor.
The case adds to a string of recent federal drug prosecutions tied to Tucson. Hoodline has reported on a separate Tucson cocaine pipeline into Cincinnati and a Detroit-linked fentanyl courier sentenced to five years in a Tucson mail case, both also investigated under the HSTF framework. Just last Monday, Arizona troopers seized 175 pounds of meth and cocaine in a single day, a reminder of how much narcotics traffic continues to move through the state's transit corridors even as federal courts hand down lengthy sentences.
