Last Defendant In Falcon Crack, Methamphetamine Trafficking Organization Case Sentenced
BEAUMONT, Texas - A 34-year-old Kirbyville, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced DEA Special Agent-in-Charge of the Houston Division Joseph M. Arabit and Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston today.
Stefone Dwayne Palomo pleaded guilty on Oct. 17, 2016, to conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine and was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone. The leader of the conspiracy, McGee Lamar Falcon, previously pled guilty and was sentenced to 204 months in federal prison by Judge Crone on March 31, 2017. Palomo is the last remaining defendant in the case to be sentenced.
According to information presented in court, beginning in 2009, Falcon and his co-conspirators operated a drug trafficking organization which acquired large multi-kilogram quantities of methamphetamine and crack cocaine from suppliers in Mexico for distribution to customers in the United States, including the Eastern District of Texas and Western District of Louisiana. Palomo and nine others were indicted by a federal grand jury on Sep. 2, 2015.
Law enforcement agencies became aware of the organization’s activities in September 2013. From that time forward, the investigation led to controlled purchases from members of the organization and the seizure of money, drugs, and firearms. Falcon and his distributors typically arranged customer meetings in rural locations around Kirbyville and Bon Weir, Texas.
This case is the result of an extensive joint investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF). The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.
This case was investigated by the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service, Beaumont Police Department, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Jasper Police Department, and Newton County Sheriff’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John B. Ross, Michelle Englade and John Craft.
