News Release
July 23, 2010
Contact: SA Melissa Bell
Public Information Officer
Number: (202) 616-4740

Texas Man Sentenced For Role In Virginia Methamphetamine Ring
Sergio Mujica Will Serve 350 Months In Federal Prison

JUL 23 -- (Harrisonburg, Virginia) - The leader of a methamphetamine conspiracy responsible for importing more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine into the Harrisonburg area over a seven year span was sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. Sergio Mujica, 41, of Houston, Texas, had been charged, along with eight other individuals, with conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Mujica was also charged with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, also known as the “Kingpin” statute. In April 2010, Mujica plead guilty to the conspiracy count. After an extensive hearing in which a number of Mujica’s drug associates testified, Mujica was sentenced to 350 months in federal prison and 5 years of supervised release thereafter. The defendant was also previously ordered to forfeit $500,000 to the United States.

 “The effects of this investigation will be felt for years to come in Harrisonburg and the surrounding communities,” stated Ava A. Cooper-Davis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, “Thanks to the tireless efforts of DEA, our state and local partners, and the prosecutor, Mr. Mujica, a significant methamphetamine trafficker, and his co-conspirators are out of business.”

“Methamphetamine ravages communities in the Western District" United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. "Men like Mr. Mujica who pump this poison into our communities deserve harsh punishment like the stiff sentence imposed by the judge today. Working with our state and local counterparts, we will do all we can to dismantle drug organizations from the head down."

According to the testimony and evidence presented at the guilty plea and sentencing hearings, Mujica was the leader of a large scale drug organization with connections to Mexico, which imported an average of seven to ten pounds of methamphetamine a week into the Harrisonburg area for a period of at least seven years. The methamphetamine was delivered to various stash houses in and around Harrisonburg, and then distributed to numerous local drug dealers, employing a number of drug associates whom Mujica had recruited. Mujica also recruited numerous individuals to send the drug sale proceeds to persons in Texas and Mexico, using money wire transfers, averaging $30,000 a week. Mujica’s drug organization also used vehicles to smuggle drug proceeds into Mexico. Witnesses estimated they picked up or delivered more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine for Mujica during the seven years of the conspiracy. DEA estimated that the street value for this amount of methamphetamine exceeded $14,000,000. U.S. District Court Judge Samuel G. Wilson noted that this was the largest methamphetamine case he had ever seen in the Western District of Virginia.

The investigation and prosecution of the case was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Attorneys Office, the Virginia State Police, the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, the Harrisonburg Police Department, the Waynesboro Police Department, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office, and the Staunton Police Department.  Assistant United States Attorney Craig "Jake" Jacobsen prosecuted the case.

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