LANSING – 4/14/25 – Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Andrew Birge today announced that Srecko Darnell Walker, 35, of Muskegon, has been sentenced to a total of 32 years in federal prison. At sentencing, Chief United States District Judge Hala Y. Jarbou remarked on Walker’s extensive criminal history, which now includes a total of seven drug-related convictions, and instances of criminal dishonesty. Before pronouncing its sentence, the Court told Walker, “You’ve spent most of your life lying. You’ve spent most of your life committing crimes . . . You have earned the sentence that you’re going to get.”
The Court imposed concurrent terms of 30 years for each of the three crimes a federal jury found Walker guilty of in November 2024: (1) conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine; (2) distribution of cocaine; and (3) possession with intent to distribute cocaine. The Court also imposed a consecutive 2-year sentence for violations Walker committed while on supervised release following a previous federal cocaine trafficking conviction.
Evidence admitted at trial showed that in 2021 and 2022, Walker worked with Steven Rasic, a Muskegon-based U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, to import kilograms of cocaine into West Michigan from Hugo Benavides, a Texas-based cocaine supplier. Walker coordinated the cocaine shipments, which were sent to vacant addresses on Rasic’s mail route. Both Rasic and Benavides pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge prior to trial and have been sentenced separately.
During trial, the jury heard that over the course of the investigation, law enforcement agents seized five kilograms of cocaine from the mail that Walker and his co-conspirators intended to distribute in West Michigan. In March 2022, investigators seized two kilograms of cocaine. After the seizure, Rasic tried to recover the parcel containing cocaine, falsely stating that he was acting on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service. In fact, Rasic was trying to recover the cocaine on Walker’s behalf, and text messages from Rasic’s phone showed that Rasic had alerted Walker to the cocaine seizure. Months later, in October 2022, investigators saw Walker distribute cocaine to a woman in Muskegon, and later, inside Walker’s residence, investigators found more cocaine, a cutting agent, and digital scale used to weigh cocaine.
The jury also learned that after the search of his residence, Walker admitted to importing cocaine through the mail, and told investigators that he sold his first kilogram of cocaine sometime in 2021. Walker also admitted to tracking some of the mail parcels that contained cocaine, including one parcel with over one kilogram of cocaine inside.
“This sentence reflects the hard work and dedication of USPS OIG Special Agents, U.S. Postal Inspectors and DEA Special Agents working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to bring charges on this significant narcotics investigation,” said Special Agent in Charge Dennus Bishop, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Central Area Field Office. “The USPS OIG, along with our law enforcement partners, remain committed to safeguarding the U.S. Mail and ensuring the accountability and integrity of U.S. Postal Service employees.”
“As the law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service, the Postal Inspection Service prioritizes the safety and security of postal employees and customers above all else,” said Detroit Division Acting Inspector in Charge Sean McStravick. “Let the severity of this sentence be a warning to those who abuse the nation’s mail system to transport narcotics and other dangerous or illegal substances: We will find you, we will arrest you, and we will seek to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
“The DEA remains committed to continue to dismantle criminal organizations—domestic and foreign,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Andrew Lawton, DEA Detroit Field Division. “This operation is a testament to the power of collaboration between agencies to ensure justice is served and our communities are protected.”
The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), The United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General (USPS OIG), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and the Michigan State Police (MSP) West Michigan Enforcement Team (WEMET) investigated this case, and it was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Austin J. Hakes and Stephanie M. Carowan.
Read PEN’s previous coverage here.
