Three Houston-area residents face years in federal prison after being convicted in a methamphetamine case.
Eduardo Figueroa Jr., 29, of Cleveland, and Cynara Lucia Sarmiento, 26, of Conroe, pleaded guilty March 22, 2023, while Marlon Deon Martin, 31, of Conroe, pleaded guilty March 21, 2023, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani said in a news release Tuesday.
Conroe is around 42 miles north of Houston, while Cleveland is around 45 miles northeast of the city.
The three pleaded guilty to possessing with intent to distribute 777 kilograms, or 1,712 pounds, of meth, Hamdani said.
U.S. District Chief Judge Randy Crane sentenced Figueroa to 12 years in federal prison, Sarmiento to five years and Martin to three years and one month.
All three also must serve three years of supervised release after their sentences.
Crane told Figueroa he would receive the longest sentence because he organized the scheme. During sentencing, Figueroa took responsibility for getting his coconspirators involved and admitted he was in charge.
The judge said he gave the coconspirators lighter sentences because they were young and foolish and had little to no criminal history. He said he wanted the two to get back on the right path.
In his plea, Figueroa said he hired Sarmiento as his personal assistant and had her lease warehouse space and form Hive Logistics, a business warehouse in Houston. Figueroa recruited Martin to help unload the drugs.
On May 12, 2021, authorities executed a search warrant at the warehouse and found 777 kilograms of meth, 10 kilograms, or 22 pounds, of cocaine, ledgers, two pistols and five magazines, the news release said. The meth was inside metal barrels marked as mango puree.
Figueroa said the meth was part of a larger shipment he had received, admitting around 800 kilograms, or 1,764 pounds, already had been delivered to several people.
Sarmiento admitted creating a ledger for the drugs and delivering them with Figueroa at least once.
The estimated street value of the meth was $29 million, authorities said in the news release.
This case is part of an investigation into the exportation and straw purchasing of firearms from March 2021 in which Figueroa was identified as a recruiter. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to straw purchase five shotguns on Nov. 22, 2021, and was sentenced to five years in prison to run concurrently.
Sarmiento and Martin were allowed to stay out on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility later. Figueroa will remain in custody pending transfer to a Bureau of Prisons later.
Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Alexis Garcia prosecuted.
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