A twice-deported illegal immigrant from Mexico has been sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty in the largest cocaine in Green Bay’s history.
A twice-deported illegal immigrant from Mexico has been sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison for leading a major drug trafficking ring that attempted to flood Green Bay with a record 30 kilograms of cocaine, the largest seizure in the city’s history.
Ruben Salgado-Espinoza, 51, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to distribute more than 5 kilograms of cocaine and illegally re-entering the United States after deportation. U.S. District Judge Byron B. Conway sentenced him April 14 to 169 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. He will be removed to Mexico upon completion of his term.
Salgado-Espinoza headed a large-scale operation based out of a compound in Rockford that distributed hundreds of kilograms of cocaine. He and two associates were arrested April 22, 2025, in Green Bay after traveling from Illinois with the cocaine hidden in a trap compartment inside a vehicle. The seizure marked the biggest in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Green Bay division, with a street value of several million dollars before dilution into roughly 30,000 street-level deals.
Salgado-Espinoza, previously deported in 1998 and 2002, admitted to investigators that he had been distributing between 18 and 35 kilograms of cocaine per month for the prior 18 months — totaling more than 300 kilograms from a Mexican source. He also sold modified “trap” vehicles to other traffickers. Three of the four defendants in the case were illegal immigrants.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel, acting as the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, highlighted the case as a stark example of border security failures.
“This case demonstrates why we must keep our border secure,” Schimel said. “The United States twice deported this defendant, and he came back again, bringing with him the largest amount of cocaine ever seized in the history of the Green Bay area. He should have been prevented from setting foot on U.S. soil again.”
Schimel added that the drugs “delivered great suffering to countless people struggling with addiction, as well as the pervasive violence and other crime that accompanies the illegal drug trade.”
“This time, the defendant will rightly serve a very long time in prison before he will be once again removed from our country,” Schimel continued. “Hopefully this time we will ensure he never returns.”
