Esteban Loaiza was accused in a federal court of the United States for drug trafficking on Wednesday morning to be transferred to a federal prison, reported Kelly Thorton, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney Southern District of California.
Loaiza has been in custody at a jail in the Superior Court of San Diego since, on February 9, the police found 20 kilograms of pure cocaine, the base of heroin, at his house in Imperial Beach, California, in addition to a compartment in his car that, they claim, is intended to hide drug smuggling.
"He was charged in a federal court this morning (Wednesday, March 7) and will be transferred to federal custody as soon as possible," wrote Thorton in an email in response to a request for information from ESPN Deportes.
According to Thorton, Loaiza had his initial appearance in court at 2:00 PM Pacific time, and Magistrate Judge Nita Stormes scheduled a detention hearing for March 12 at 10:00 AM, and another preliminary hearing for March 20 at 9:30 AM.
Last February 14, Loaiza had his first court hearing, where the prosecution asked Judge Keri G. Katz for a sentence of up to 20 years and eight months in prison if found guilty of the three main charges he was accused of that day.
He was accused of possession of more than 10 kilograms of cocaine base and heroin within a thousand feet of an elementary school; transportation of those same drugs with the purpose of selling them, and installing a secret compartment in his Mercedes Benz vehicle with the aim of hiding drug contraband.
Loaiza, who pleaded not guilty, has a bail set at $250,000, $50,000 more than the day of his arrest.
In his professional career, Loaiza played in Major League Baseball from 1995 to 2008 for eight different teams. In 2003, he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting. He was twice selected to the All-Star Game. His 126 victories represent the second-highest mark for any Mexican pitcher in the big leagues.
"The process of justice sees everyone as equal," said prosecutor Monique Myers last March 14. "He will receive fair treatment and trial like all those who are being tried in this country."
According to documents provided by Thorton, on February 9, the day of the arrest, an officer observed a Mercedes vehicle enter the residence located at 1044 Fern Avenue, Imperial Beach, California. The car entered the two-car garage and the door was closed. Approximately ten minutes later, the garage door opened and the Mercedes left. After following the car for a short period, the San Diego Sheriff Chief made contact with the driver, who was later determined to be Esteban Loaiza.
A narcotics detection dog sniffed the Mercedes. The dog gave a positive alert, indicating the presence of narcotics in the car or that narcotics had been present. The authority also located the remote control for a garage in the pocket of Loaiza's shirt. It had a note attached that read "1044 Fern Ave," the address from which the former pitcher had left.
Based on the observations, the officers obtained a search warrant for the location, which they accessed with the remote control they obtained from Loaiza. They observed that there were no furniture or personal belongings in the residence, but there was a gray Nissan minivan parked in the garage. In the cargo area of the van, the officers observed several baseball bags, some labeled with the name 'Loaiza'. Underneath the bags and floor compartments, the drug packages were found.