Who is Joanne Marian Segovia? San Jose Police Union Executive Fentanyl scandal explained

Joanne Marian Segovia, the executive director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, has been accused of allegedly running a drug business from her home. As per federal authorities, the 64-year-old used her organization’s official UPS account to import and distribute drugs in the US.

On Wednesday, March 29, federal officials charged Segovia with attempting to illegally order and distribute opioids and other drugs like Zolpidem, Tapentadol, and Tramadol, including a synthetic opioid called Valeryl fentanyl.

As per her LinkedIn profile, Joanne Marian Segovia has been working with the San Jose Police Officers Association since 2003. She was earlier associated with Deluxe Corporation as a manager and Third Degree Communications, Inc. as a bookkeeper.

If convicted of her alleged crimes, Joanne Marian Segovia could face a maximum of 20 years of prison time, as per the authorities. While speaking to NBC Bay Area, Police union President Sean Pritchard said he was shocked by the alleged charges put on Segovia.

“She’s been the grandma of the POA. This is not the person we’ve known, the person who has worked with fallen officers’ families, organized fundraisers for officers’ kids — just not who we’ve known over a decade.”

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Joanne Marian Segovia received miscellaneous "packages" from several countries

As per the 13-page complaint filed by the federal authorities, Joanne Marian Segovia received 61 packages at her San Jose residence between October 2015 and January 2023 from various countries - including Canada, India, and China.

According to prosecutors, the shipments were marked as dietary supplements, wedding party favors, cosmetics, chocolates, and other items to cover the illegal drugs. However, the packages consisted of various synthetic deadly opioids and even Tapentadol, used to treat the pain caused by nerve damage in diabetes.

The federal authorities found out about Joanne Marian Segovia's secret operation when they looked into a network in India that was known to ship drugs into the country.

As per the complaint, Homeland Security authorities found texts from the network that talked about "J. Segovia" and had an address in San Jose and the words "180 pills SOMA 500mg." Although Segovia worked for the police union before her suspension, she is not known to have a background in front-line law enforcement.

In February 2023, she was interviewed by the feds about her involvement, and even then, she continued to order drugs.

As per the Daily Beast, on March 15, investigators got hold of a package addressed to her in Kentucky and seized it. The package was labeled "clock" and was from China, containing disassembled clock parts with white, adhesive patch stickers on which a fentanyl-related substance was found.

An agent wrote in the complaint:

"I believe that Segovia stopped ordering controlled substances from her previous supplier (apparently based in India) after HSI Agents interviewed her in February 2023 and began to order controlled substances from a new supplier, who is shipping from China."

Prosecutors also stated in the complaint that Joanne Marian Segovia texted someone using a country code from India on WhatsApp between January 2020 and March 2023.

In a statement issued to television station KRON, the mayor of San Jose, Matt Mahan, said that "this is an incredibly disturbing allegation."

"I want to thank U.S. Attorney Ramsey and his colleagues for aggressively pursuing the sources of fentanyl coming into our communities and holding drug dealers accountable."

As of this article's writing, no other updates have been provided on the matter.