Former San Jose police union leader pleads guilty to drug smuggling

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. – A disgraced former San Jose police union leader pleaded guilty Tuesday to drug smuggling, federal authorities said.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, Joanne Segovia, who was once executive director of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, pleaded guilty to illegally importing the opioid painkiller Tapentadol.

Segovia, 65, was nicknamed the “Breaking Bad” grandma after her indictment on federal drug charges.

An internal investigation into Segovia’s operations was also launched after allegations emerged that she was operating an international opioid distribution network using union resources such as her work computer.

Segovia, affectionately known as “Grandma” in the police union, was fired following an internal affairs investigation after a 20-year tenure, according to union President Sean Pritchard.

Federal authorities said Segovia received at least 61 drug shipments to her home from 2015 to 2023 from various countries, including Hong Kong, Hungary, India and Singapore.

The shipments were labeled “wedding party gifts,” “gift makeup,” or “chocolate and candy.” Officers intercepted five of those packages and discovered they contained thousands of tablets of controlled substances, including the synthetic opioids tramadol and tapentadol.

Authorities said Segovia also used her police union office to distribute the drugs. In one case, Segovia sent a package to a North Carolina woman using the union’s UPS account.

According to the East Bay Times, Segovia’s sentencing is scheduled for January 21. She is allowed to remain free pending a sentencing report. She faces up to 20 years in prison.