“This case is not a fentanyl case, it’s never been a fentanyl case,” Gasner said. “In our communities, fentanyl is certainly a trigger word and a very serious situation, which caused a lot of people a lot of emotional reactions and often for very good reason. But the reality is, that’s not what this case is about, and that’s not what Ms. Segovia is culpable for.”
Gasner said he “admired” the U.S. attorney’s office for clarifying that point in court, which was not required but was an “honorable” thing to do.
Segovia, 65, first came to the attention of U.S. Department of Homeland Security investigators who were looking into an international drug network that was allegedly shipping pills into the Bay Area, officials previously said.
In March 2023, Segovia surrendered to federal authorities after being initially charged with attempting to smuggle a form of fentanyl.
Laurie Levenson, a criminal law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that by indicating she would plead guilty to the new charge, Segovia is signaling “that she’s gone from basically fighting the charges to getting her best deal.”
Legal experts interviewed for this story said the length and nature of the sentence Segovia will receive remains an open question and will become clearer when a plea deal is filed ahead of her October court date.
A sentencing hearing could be set for early 2025, officials said.
From October 2015 to January 2023, Segovia had at least 61 drug shipments mailed to her home, coming from various overseas locations, 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,” or “Chocolate and Sweets,” investigators allege they contained drugs.
Between July 2019 and January 2023, officials intercepted five shipments intended for Segovia and found thousands of pills, including synthetic opioids tramadol and tapentadol, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Investigators said they seized drugs at her house and hundreds of tapentadol pills at her police union office.
Segovia used both her personal computer and a computer at her office to order the drugs to her San José home, and she “agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Gasner said Segovia was in the “throes of an addiction” and was taken advantage of by others who abused her trust.
“She was an abuser herself, and to the extent that any drugs were then turned around and distributed, it was the result of her being taken advantage of, not a goal of herself to enrich herself,” he said. “That wasn’t her idea or her plan in any way, shape, or form.”
Investigators also allege that Segovia lied to them about her actions, trying to shift blame onto her housekeeper, saying she switched suppliers and continued ordering illicit drugs even after federal authorities confronted her in February 2023.
Segovia, who was an administrative employee of the police union, not a sworn officer, was fired in April 2023 after an internal investigation by union officials.
Union officials claimed there were no other union employees or police officers involved in the alleged drug crimes and that no one knew about Segovia’s behavior.
Since Segovia’s first court hearing last year, she has remained out of custody and has been allowed to attend family events out of state and even go on vacation, according to court documents, but has not been permitted to travel internationally.
