Pair sentenced through "non-citizen plea" on reduced drug charges from 2020 arrests

A pair of non-citizens negotiating through an interpreter in Sebastian County Circuit Court on Wednesday agreed to take a "non-citzen plea" in a drug case and each received 24-months in jail and eight years of suspended sentences on watered down charges.

Martin Duarte-Gill and Gerardo Lujan-Valenzula two of three defendants sentenced for a September 2020 arrest in which all three men were intially charged with Possessioon of a Controlled Substance Schedukle VI of between 25 and 100 pounds.

As part of their plea deal, Duarte-Gill and Lujan-Valenzula had their charges dropped to Possession of Mariuana with Purpose to Deliver, a Class C Felony.

Both men are also on a hold for Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well.

The other defendant, Danaldo Morales-Felix was convicted in the same case in early December of last year and is already in the ADC serving a two year stretch.

He also received a suspended sentence of 96-months.

Morales-Felix was transferred to the Arkansas Department of Corrections on March 27 and is currently housed in the Grimes Unit in Newport.