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Updated 12:30 p.m.

The former executive director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association pleaded guilty on Tuesday to illegally importing opioids.

Joanne Segovia entered her plea in San José federal court as part of a deal with federal authorities about a year and a half after she was first charged in connection with an international drug ring that Homeland Security investigators were monitoring.

While Segovia had previously maintained her innocence, she agreed in August to accept responsibility for her actions as part of a deal with U.S. prosecutors.

“Ms. Segovia is relieved to be able to admit responsibility and culpability for what she did,” Adam Gasner, her attorney, said Monday. “As a sober person who has had time to reflect on the wrongfulness of her conduct, it’s time for her to take the next step towards closure of this case and her personal healing.”

While working as the lead civilian administrator for the San José police union, Segovia allegedly had thousands of illicit pills shipped to her home over several years that she ordered on both her personal and office computers and redistributed some of those pills elsewhere in the U.S., authorities said.

Under the current plea deal, Segovia is being charged with one count of illegally importing tapentadol, a potent painkiller listed as a Schedule II controlled substance by the U.S. government.

U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee spent much of the hearing Tuesday advising Segovia of her legal rights. Lee then asked Segovia how she chose to plead to the count against her, to which Segovia responded with one word: “Guilty.”

Gasner has attempted to portray Segovia as someone struggling with a substance use disorder, not a kingpin or drug distributor, who became involved in a drug shipping network as a result of her vulnerability and addiction, saying she was taken advantage of by other bad actors.

Under both the original and current charge, Segovia could face a maximum of 20 years in prison. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 21, 2025.

After Tuesday’s hearing, Gasner suggested that probation, rather than incarceration, would be a suitable punishment for Segovia, who he said is recovering from addiction and deserves compassion.

“I don’t believe additional incarceration will reduce the chance that Ms. Segovia would be a recidivist or increase the chance she’d be a recidivist,” he said outside the courthouse. “I believe that her being convicted of this very serious crime and making these admissions and having to be supervised is certainly a punishment for what she has done.”

From October 2015 to January 2023, Segovia had at least 61 drug shipments mailed to her home from various overseas origins, according to last year’s original criminal complaint against her.

While the shipping information for the packages claimed they contained innocuous items like “wedding party favors,” “gift makeup,” and “chocolate and sweets,” investigators alleged they contained drugs.

Between July 2019 and January 2023, officials intercepted five shipments intended for Segovia, finding thousands of pills, including the synthetic opioids tramadol and tapentadol, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

FULL STORY HERE

Segovia was originally charged, in March 2023, with one count of attempting to import a form of fentanyl that authorities found on patches and stickers in a package addressed to her from China.

However, U.S. prosecutors in August removed that charge, saying there was an “error” in the testing of the substance, with subsequent testing showing no evidence of fentanyl in the package.

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