Dallas Man Convicted For Role In Methamphetamine Distribution Conspiracy
DALLAS - Following a four-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge David C. Godbey, a federal jury has convicted Gilberto Gomez, 37, on felony drug offenses. The conviction was announced by Clyde E. Shelley, Jr., DEA’s Special Agent in Charge for Dallas and U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Gomez was convicted yesterday on one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana, and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The drug trafficking conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of life in federal prison and a $1 million fine. Sentencing is scheduled in June.
Co-conspirator Felix Cantu, 30, pled guilty in March 2017 to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. No date has been set for his sentencing.
The government presented evidence at trial that beginning in November 17, 2015 until March 1, 2016 Gomez and Cantu operated a drug distribution enterprise from Gomez’s residence on Palacios Avenue in West Dallas. After a four-month long investigation, DEA and the Dallas Police Department executed a search warrant on the residence and recovered more than $37,000 in cash and over $40,000 worth of narcotics. To protect his drugs, Gomez installed three-inch steel coverings for the windows and a coded-entry metal gate in the hallway leading to the master bedroom.
Gomez travelled to California every two weeks to purchase marijuana. He concealed the newly purchased marijuana in hidden compartments of vehicles and shipped them back to Texas on open-air tractor-trailers. In an effort to keep drugs off the streets in that neighborhood, the U.S. Attorney’s Office is seeking an order to forfeit the house since it was used for the criminal activity.
