RivCo Correctional Deputy Rearrested, Bail Set At $5 Million

BANNING, CA — A Riverside County correctional deputy suspected of playing "a pivotal role" in trafficking "large quantities of narcotics," and who was out of custody on $1 million bail, was rearrested with his bail amount increased to $5 million, according to an update Thursday from a Riverside County sheriff's captain.

Jorge Alberto Oceguera Rocha, 25, of Banning was taken back into custody Wednesday night just hours after posting his initial bail.

Bail was increased because Oceguera Rocha is a flight risk and a danger to the public, according to Rob Roggeveen, captain of the sheriff's Special Investigations Bureau.

Oceguera Rocha was first arrested Sunday following a traffic stop conducted on Interstate 10 at County Line Road in Calimesa. A K9 alerted to the presence of narcotics within his vehicle and a search was conducted. More than 100 pounds of packaged fentanyl pills (M30's) were found, along with a loaded handgun, Roggeveen reported.

Oceguera Rocha was subsequently booked into Cois Byrd Detention Center in French Valley, but he made bail Wednesday. The booking charges were narcotics possession, transporting/distributing narcotics, and possession of narcotics while armed with a firearm — all felonies.

The case against Oceguera Rocha was presented to the Assistant U.S. Attorney's office for review on federal drug trafficking charges and weapon charges, but a federal indictment was rejected, according to Roggeveen.

Oceguera Rocha was subsequently rearrested Wednesday night in Banning and Roggeveen said the Riverside County District Attorney's Office is prepared to file formal charges against him.

Oceguera Rocha was hired by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in April 2019. At the time of his initial arrest, he was serving at Banning's Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, according to sheriff's Sgt. Wenndy Brito Gonzalez.

He has resigned from the sheriff's department, Gonzalez said.

The investigation into Oceguera Rocha determined he was not smuggling narcotics into the Riverside County jail system, according to Roggeveen.

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