Mesquite, Texas Drug Trafficker Sentenced To 330 Months In Federal Prison
One of largest seizures of Methamphetamine in U.S.
DALLAS - A man who was found with a large amount of methamphetamine in his house in Mesquite, Texas, last year, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to a lengthy federal prison term, announced John Parker, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
Jose Farias Lopez, 24, was sentenced to 330 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty in October 2014 to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance.
Farias Lopez was also ordered to forfeit $36,257 in cash proceeds from the distribution of the methamphetamine, two semi-automatic handguns and assorted ammunition, and a 2011 Mazda SUV.
According to documents filed in the case, Farias Lopez was at a house on April 23, 2014, when law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the residence. Law enforcement located 875,922 gross (approximately 875 kilograms) of methamphetamine in the house. Farias Lopez admitted that his role in the conspiracy was to assist in the packaging and preparation of the methamphetamine for distribution. Farias Lopez admitted he conspired with co-defendant Lino Robles Alvarez, and others, and that it was their intention to distribute the methamphetamine at the residence. Robles Alvarez remains a fugitive.
According to the Drug Enforcement (DEA), this seizure was one of the largest methamphetamine seizures ever in the United States.
The DEA, Dallas Police Department, Garland Police Department, and Mesquite Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal prosecuted the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney John De La Garza handled the forfeiture.
