Rick Patrick
rick@greenepublishing.com
A pair of drug traffickers who were stopped on I-10 in Madison County have pled guilty and now await sentencing in federal court. According to court records, on Aug. 24-25, 2022, Nicholas Ingerman and Olga Orozco were driving from California with approximately seven kilograms of methamphetamine.
Facebook and text messages revealed that in the early morning hours of Aug. 25, 2022, Ingerman sold approximately one kilogram of methamphetamine to a Kimberly Hogue for $5,000 cash and a promise of another $500.
At approximately 4 a.m. on the morning of Aug. 25, Orozco and Ingerman were pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) on Interstate 10, in Madison County. FHP officers found approximately six kilograms of methamphetamine. Also in the car were approximately eight grams of fentanyl, 45 pills believed to be oxycodone, a Ruger .380 pistol and $4,950 in cash (consistent with having come from Kimberly Hogue).
Ingerman gave a statement that Orozco had been the organizer for the load of methamphetamine and she had the contact from whom they had received the methamphetamine. Ingerman said he had put money towards the purchase of some of the methamphetamine and that five pounds of the methamphetamine in the vehicle were for a friend of his.
Ingerman said the pistol belonged to Orozco, but admitted that he had knowledge of the presence of the pistol and that he was in joint possession of the firearm. Ingerman is a convicted felon who has been convicted in the State of Florida for numerous crimes, including lewd or lascivious molestation, possession of alprazolam with intent to sell/distribute, possession of methamphetamine, felony petit theft, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, failure by a sexual offender to comply with registration requirements and fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer with siren and lights activated.
Orozco pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine, plus one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture containing methamphetamine. She faces a minimum of 10 years in prison for each of the counts, with a maximum of life in prison. She also faces three years to life of supervised release. She will have to pay a $10,000 fine and a $100 special assessment fee. She will be officially sentenced on Monday, May 22, in federal court in Tallahassee.
Ingerman pled guilty to a total of four counts. The first two counts are the same as Orozco's two counts and carry the same punishment, a minimum of 10 years for each count and a maximum of life in prison for each count. Additionally, Ingerman pled guilty to one count of carrying a firearm in the furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, which carries a minimum of five years, to be served consecutively to his other sentences. He also faces a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment. Ingerman pled guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, for which he faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, along with three years of supervised release, another $250,000 fine and another $100 special assessment. He will be officially sentenced on Thursday, July 20, in federal court, in Tallahassee.