Woman sent to prison for role in convoy carrying cocaine through Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — An Illinois woman was sentenced Monday for a 2022 drug bust in Nebraska.

Jennilee Velez, 22, will spend 3½ years in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and oxycodone.

She was one of four women arrested on Oct. 1, 2022, on Interstate 80 in Seward County.

A Nebraska state trooper saw two “nearly identical” Mercedes SUVs going east on I-80.

The trooper pulled over the one Velez was in for driving on the shoulder. The other SUV sped off, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Inside Velez’s vehicle, troopers said they found more than 16 pounds of cocaine and 393 oxycodone pills. She and her passenger, Mia Williams, were arrested.

The other SUV was later stopped by the Seward County drug task force for driving with an obscured license plate.

That vehicle was carrying more than 24 pounds of cocaine and 66 oxycodone pills, authorities said.

The driver, Samantha Franciso, and her sister, Julany Rivera, were arrested.

Investigators discovered that the women were transporting the drugs from Los Angeles to Chicago, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The cases against the other three women are pending.

Velez will serve two years on supervised release after prison. There is no parole in the federal system.