Heroin thrown from a car during a high-speed chase along I-5 in Oregon leads to a six-year prison sentence

A man who fled from police on Interstate 5 and threw two large bricks of packaged heroin out his driver’s window during the chase was sentenced Wednesday to six years in prison after pleading guilty to a drug trafficking charge.

Francisco Javier Paredes-Villasenor, 24, apologized to U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon and the “people of the United States” for his “misconduct.”

He told Simon he was under the influence of methamphetamine much of the time before his arrest on June 21, 2023 at the Spirit Mountain Casino.

“Now that I can think clearly, I deeply regret the things I did,” he said.

He pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with intent to distribute.

According to court records, after Paredes-Villasenor’s arrest, federal agents seized an assortment of methamphetamine, counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl and three unloaded firearms from his room on the third floor of the Salem Roadway Inn.

They also found a black notebook with “Write It Down” on the cover, an apparent ledger containing handwritten lists of suspected drug deals by date, name and money received, prosecutors said.

The investigation into Paredes-Villasenor began when police tried to stop a black Kia Optima traveling north on I-5 near Albany. The car initially slowed down, but then sped away, reaching speeds of 80 to 90 mph.

The driver threw away two packages of heroin wrapped in black tape. a total of about one kilogram of the drug, prosecutors said. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office recovered the heroin, according to court records.

The driver managed to escape, but his car was found abandoned in Salem, with his Mexican passport in the center console, Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Sax said.

Four days later, officers arrested Paredes-Villasenor at Spirit Mountain Casino. They found a loaded black 9mm handgun in a Nissan Sentra he drove to the casino and then searched his hotel room after finding a key card among his belongings.

Inside the room, federal law enforcement investigators recovered 2,654 grams of methamphetamine stored in an orange bucket, approximately 30 grams. grams of counterfeit oxycodone pills, $2,360 in cash and two unloaded rifles and a shotgun.

— Maxine Bernstein practices in federal court and criminal law. Reach her at 503-221-8212, [email protected], follow her at @maxoregonianor on LinkedIn.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today OregonLive.com.