San Jose police union exec charged with importing fentanyl in multi-year scheme

One of the top members of the San Jose police union has been charged after allegedly importing fentanyl as part of a multi-year scheme.

Joanne Segovia, the executive director of the San Jose Police Officers Association, is also accused of using the union’s office to communicate with drug suppliers and mail the synthetic opioid.

The Justice Department said in a statement that Segovia faces 20 years in prison if convicted.

According to the department’s press release, Segovia allegedly used “her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioid and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States” between 2015 and 2023. Segovia also received medications like Zolpidem, Tapentadol, and Tramadol from addresses in India and China.

At least one of the packages, shipped in 2021, used the San Jose Police Officers’ Association’s UPS account, according to the criminal complaint.

The shipments were also given misleading labels, like “Wedding Party Favors,” “Gift Makeup,” or “Chocolate and Sweets.”

According to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Daily Beast, when investigators confronted Segovia, she said the shipments were actually for “another woman whom she identified as a family friend and housekeeper” who has “a substance abuse disorder.”

Segovia, 64, was swept up in an ongoing Homeland Security investigation into a network that’s allegedly importing opioids to the Bay Area,” the Justice Department said.

Segovia has reportedly worked for the police union since 2003 and “maintains control over financial and administrative matters associated with the SJPOA, as well as the SJPOA Charitable Foundation,” according to an archived version of the union’s website.

Union spokesperson Tom Saggau said in a statement that Segovia was placed on leave last week after the union was made aware of the investigation.