ALBUQUERQUE – T owanda R. Thorne-James, Special Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration El Paso Division and Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Pragneshkumar Patel and Johnathan Craft were sentenced to 30 and 70 months in prison, respectively, for...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Two Corpus Christi brothers have been ordered to federal prison for manufacturing and distributing tens of thousands of fentanyl-laced pills disguised as legitimate pharmaceutical-grade pain medications, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 31-year-old Mexican national has been sentenced for conspiring to traffic cocaine across the border, announced U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Division and Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Juan Andres Rodriguez-Murillo pleaded guilty Nov. 1, 2023, to...

LAREDO, Texas – A 47-year-old man has pleaded guilty to possessing over 800 grams of cocaine, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. The investigation began in September 2022, when law enforcement learned Homero Flores...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 32-year-old Corpus Christi woman has been sentenced for trafficking narcotics, announced Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Daniel C. Comeaux of the Houston Division and U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Melissa Rendon pleaded guilty Aug. 4, 2023. U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton has now ordered Rendon...

EL PASO, Texas – An El Paso man was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to 130 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. According to court documents, Gary Everett Rinker, 56, sold approximately 200 pills containing 19.8 grams of fentanyl to a buyer at...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – A 36-year-old man has been sentenced for possession with intent to distribute meth, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani. Phil Cuellar III aka Tex pleaded guilty Aug. 7, 2023. U.S. District Judge David S. Morales has now sentenced him to 168 months in federal prison to...

EL PASO – The Drug Enforcement Administration’s El Paso Division has a new Special Agent in Charge (SAC). On Sept. 11, 2023, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram named Towanda R. Thorne-James as the new Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the El Paso Division, which serves New Mexico and West Texas...

PECOS – A Kermit man was sentenced this week in federal court in Pecos to 115 months in prison for possession and distribution of methamphetamine and an additional 24 months in prison for a supervised release violation stemming from a felon in possession charge he was sentenced for in 2022...

PECOS – An Anthony, New Mexico man was sentenced this week to 327 months in prison for his role in a drug trafficking organization that distributed cocaine. According to court documents, Gilberto Hernandez, aka “G”, 30, was the leader of the Hernandez drug trafficking organization (DTO). From August 2021 until...