According to a federal criminal complaint, sixty-four-year-old Joanne Marian Segovia, the executive director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association (SJPOA), has been accused of ordering illegal drugs to her home with plans to distribute them throughout the U.S.
The United States Department of Justice charged Segovia with illegally attempting to import a controlled substance. The criminal complaint notes that between 2015-2023 she received 61 shipments to her home from locations across the globe like Hong Kong and India. She even used her work computer to order fentanyl and other illicit drugs.

Segovia faces up to twenty years in prison if she is convicted of attempting to import valeryl fentanyl. One shipment was found inside a package mislabeled clock, carrying clock parts that had fentanyl attached to them.

On Friday, the SJPOA released a statement saying they were informed an employee was under investigation and that they are “fully and completely cooperating” with federal law enforcement. The statement said,

“The POA immediately placed the civilian employee on leave and, as is standard procedure cut off all access to the POA. No additional individual at the POA is involved or has prior knowledge of the alleged acts. The Board of Directors is saddened and disappointed at hearing this news, and we have pledged to provide our full support to the investigative authorities.”

Segovia was first suspected by law enforcement while they were investigating a drug network in India that was sending shipments to the United States. Homeland Security agents found phone messages mentioning a J. Segovia while searching an operatives phone log. They also found an address in San Jose with the words “180 pills SOMA 500mg.”

Between July 2019 and January 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection records revealed that five shipments were intercepted on their way to Segovia’s address. According to KTLA news, the packages contained more than a kilogram of controlled substances like Zolpidem (a sedative used to treat insomnia) and a narcotic called Tramadol, which is used to treat pain.

Segovia was repeatedly questioned by Homeland Security, who provided contradictory statements and blamed the drug orders on her housekeeper, who she claimed had a substance abuse disorder.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan weighed in on the charges saying, “This is an incredibly disturbing allegation. No one is above the law, regardless of who their employer is. 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.”

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