The federal drug smuggling case against Joanna Segovia ended with a plea deal in court Tuesday, closing the saga of the woman known as the “grandmother” of the San Jose police union.
Segovia’s guilty felony plea to U.S. Judge Eumi Lee admits she imported 17,400 doses of the opioid Tapentadol in a 17-month period between 2021 and 2022, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tartakovsky revealed, according to the Mercury News.
A U.S. Attorney Office spokesperson told San José Spotlight Segovia will be sentenced on Jan. 21., where she could receive up to 20 years in prison. The spokesperson said she will likely receive less per the sentencing guidelines and that she is not in custody.
Adam Gasner, Segovia’s lawyer, said it’s important to note there was no fentanyl involved in the case, adding Segovia’s primary motivation for importing the opioid pills was to fuel her own addiction. He said she’s sober and in active recovery.
“As part of that recovery, she pleaded guilty today in order to admit her wrongdoing and proceed to punishment for her actions,” he told San José Spotlight. “She is a 65-year-old mother and grandmother and loving wife, who has no prior criminal record.”
The criminal case prompted an internal investigation by the San Jose Police Officers Association (POA). The association contracted David Reuben, a private investigator and principal of DR Associates International in April 2023 to investigate why Segovia slipped under the radar and if her crimes involved others in the department.
The investigation concluded Segovia’s drug dealings were primarily done from her home and personal computer and a review of all union finances and accounts did not find any irregularities caused by her actions.
Witnesses testified Segovia did not have any personal relationships with any officers which could have suggested conspiratorial involvement by other union representatives, even though she was respected as the union’s “matriarch,” according to the investigator’s report. The federal investigation did not seek interviews with any POA staff or representatives, and the Homeland Security’s search warrant was only directed at Segovia.
“In summation, there was no evidence whatsoever that any POA representative had any involvement, knowledge, or suspicions regarding Segovia’s alleged criminal activities,” the report stated. “All facts indicate that Segovia acted by herself, and without any interaction with any representatives of the POA.”
Tom Saggau, POA spokesperson, pointed San José Spotlight to the internal investigation when asked for comment on Segovia’s guilty plea.
Segovia was a police union office manager for two decades before the federal charges prompted her firing in April last year. Federal authorities accused her of using her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioids and other pills to her home for national distribution. In at least one instance, she used the police union’s UPS account and return address to ship a package to North Carolina, which investigators believe was a drug shipment.
Investigators said Segovia lied to them when confronted and tried to blame her housekeeper for the entire scheme. Segovia was placed on paid leave the month she was charged, shortly after authorities searched her office and home. Investigators said they found pills in both locations. At her office they seized 283 Tapentadol pills, another synthetic opioid.
Between July 2019 and January 2023, officials intercepted shipments to her home from China, Hungary, India and other countries and found that they contained thousands of pills of controlled substances, including the synthetic opioids Tramadol and Tapentadol. Some of the packages contained thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs.
Gasner said he is optimistic about her January sentencing.
“She deserves compassion and support for her continued recovery,” he said. “We trust these mitigating factors will weigh heavily in favor of her receiving a fair and just sentence.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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