PORTLAND -- A drug kingpin in the Northwest region, who put thousands of doses of heroin on the streets, was defiant in court when a judge sent him to prison.
Vidal Carillo-Carillo was convicted of running a drug ring that pushed massive amounts of heroin through Oregon and Southwest Washington.
After the Clackamas County judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison, he demanded to know the judge’s name and when the defense attorney refused to give it to him, he started shaking in anger.
During the investigation, police learned that Carillo-Carillo’s group pushed seven pounds of heroin through the Northwest every week, or 6,000 doses of heroin for drug users.
All the while, Carillo-Carillo led the high life, with hot cars, expensive homes and a lavish lifestyle shared with other members of his gang.
Carillo-Carillo’s wife and brother are also serving time for pushing drugs, with sentences ranging from 13 to 15 years in prison.
Gary Cobb is a community organizer for Central City Concern, and also works as an Addiction Services Consumer Advocate who speaks on addiction recovery. Although not connected to the case or Carillo-Carillo, Cobb was himself once a heroin user, and talked to KGW about how the drug affects users. “Heroin will kill you - it will rob you of everything that is positive, literally stealing your soul," said Cobb.
Carillo-Carillo was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his crimes.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly implied that Gary Cobb was connected to this case, and implied he used heroin that came from Carillo-Carillo. The earlier report also misidentified Carillo-Carillo as a member of the "Mexican mafia." Prosecutors tell KGW they have no specific proof of this.
