A man from Mission, Texas, faces 10 years in a federal prison after being convicted in a methamphetamine case, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.
Esteban Almentor-Lopez, 31, faced two separate narcotics charges and pleaded guilty March 1, 2021, and Dec. 20, 2022, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani said in a news release Monday.
Almentor-Lopez was convicted of two counts of possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of meth.
Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Almentor-Lopez to five years and 10 months in federal prison for the initial drug trafficking charge and a consecutive sentence of four years and two months for his subsequent conviction. His total 10-year sentence will be followed immediately by four years of supervised release.
In November 2020, law enforcement conducted an operation with a Mexican source for a drug supply. The organization was to deliver kilogram quantities of meth in the Rio Grande Valley. The drug then would be transported to Chicago.
Authorities said that on two occasions in November 2020, Almentor-Lopez transported and delivered a total of 40 kilograms, or 88 pounds, of meth in Mission. He was arrested but was granted bond pending further proceedings.
On March 1, 2021, Almentor-Lopez pleaded guilty to those charges.
Despite that, on the next day, authorities again caught him transporting and delivering an additional 20 kilograms, or 44 pounds, of meth for the same drug organization.
The approximately 60 kilograms, or 132 pounds, of meth that Almentor-Lopez trafficked had a purity level of 100%, authorities said in the news release.
Almentor-Lopez has been and will remain in custody as he awaits transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Garcia prosecuted.
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