Editor’s note: Former San Jose Police Association Executive Director Joanne Segovia is facing federal charges for running an international drug ring for years. She was released without having to pay bail, and local law enforcement officials have been relatively silent about the alleged criminal activity, despite its size and scope. Writer Raymond Goins poses the question – why is she treated differently? His article below was originally published on April 20, 2023 at https://www.siliconvalleydebug.org/stories/a-just-question
As an individual who has been caught for committing several crimes in my life, and has served over 25 years of my life in some sort of imprisonment, I am confused as to why the Fentanyl Queen Joanne Segovia is not being treated like myself or a lot of my friends would have been if if we got caught playing with the fentanyl at a global scale.
So I got some questions.
The first and most glaring question that I have is to Jeff Rosen and the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Why haven’t you, on the behalf of the people of Santa Clara County, charged her? If she would have been from the the economically challenged parts of San Jose, your office would have had a press conference with a big white board full of lines linking everyone that was involved with their name, age ,gang name, and real name next to color pictures. You would harass and embarrass our families and do all you can to tear them from the fabric of their families.
She very well could directly or indirectly have had a hand in every fentanyl related death and crime that has happened in Santa Clara County. So how is she being treated like a white color criminal? She was even released without paying any bail. But I guess if you got money and connections I guess you don’t need bail. As the former Chief Executive Officer of the San Jose Police Association(SJPOA), I guess it helps to have the support of people in high ranking positions. It’s like I scratched your back, now I need you to scratch mine.
People always talking about “justice” and “equal justice under the law.” So if you ever thought there is a such thing as equal justice, I hope that how this is playing out shows you that there are several standards of justice. And for older white woman who ran the SJPOA, you can do what you want because grandfather (The Judicial System) will protect you.
Comment from a reader on the De-Bug website: “Joanne Segovia should be locked up, with no bail. She is a high- risk criminal. I am a mother whom lost my child Chloe Harden age 18, one year ago in San Jose to fentanyl poisoning. I will not rest until she is locked up.”
Raymond Goins is a columnist for Silicon Valley De-Bug. Silicon Valley De-Bug is a community organizing, advocacy, and a multimedia storytelling organization based out of San José, California.
