4 Charged in Drug Sale Face 40-Year Terms

Four Mexican citizens who became the first to be indicted under a new federal law that increases penalties for the sale of drugs at or near public playgrounds and parks face up to 40 years in prison if convicted before being deported, authorities said Monday.

Fernando Cedillo, 21; Gabriel Serna, 20; Oscar Rizo, 19, and Sergio Esquivel, 19, were arrested Jan. 25 in the playground area of Lanark Park in Canoga Park and were charged with selling cocaine to Los Angeles undercover officers.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Susan Bryant-Deason said Friday that the men would be deported without serving time in prison. But she said Monday that she later learned that under the new law, the men face from one to 40 years in federal prison, without the possibility of parole or probation. After serving their sentences, they would be deported, she said.

Before Jan. 1, when the law went into effect, a defendant with a similar charge would likely face a sentence of three years probation and six months in County Jail, Bryant-Deason said.

Three of the men are being held without bail at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center downtown. Fernando Cedillo is free on $10,000 bail, authorities said. The four are scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 13. in U.S. District Court.