A Chula Vista man who is a former sheriff’s department civilian employee pleaded guilty April 14 to tax evasion and making a false statement to a federal officer when he claimed he did not have a second source of income.
Francisco J. Terriquez, 43, admitted he ran an illegal obesity drug shipment business under an alias out of storage units in Otay Mesa. Sentencing is set for July 21 in U.S. District Court in San Diego.
He shipped the drug sibutramine to various health stores in spite of the controlled substance being taken off the U.S. market in 2010 because of an increased risk of heart attack and stroke among users of the drug.
Terriquez worked for the sheriff’s department from 1996 to 2015 and earned $40,000 annually, according to court records. He failed to report approximately $503,930 in income from the drug business, according to the U.S. Attorney.
“As a member of a law enforcement agency for decades, this defendant knew better,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy.
Terriquez was terminated from the sheriff’s department after he was arrested Aug. 10, 2015. He had worked at the George Bailey Detention Facility, but was not a deputy.
Terriquez faces five years in prison for not declaring the income to the Internal Revenue Service plus five years for making a false statement to federal authorities. He remains free on $25,000 bond.
IRS investigators calculated he owes $66,299 in taxes from the drug business, records say. He spent more than $30,000 in shipping packages via FedEx since 2011 to various stores in Texas, Pennsylvania, and elsewhere under the alias Santiago Moya.
