Two Austin area men were sentenced Monday in federal court in Austin to more than seven years in prison for their involvement in a fentanyl distribution organization.
According to court documents, Christopher Brock, 25, of Pflugerville, and Marcos Roberto Garcia aka “Alex,” 20, of Somerton, Arizona, were arrested with other organization members on Jan. 4, 2022, on charges of distributing fentanyl in the Austin area. Brock served as a courier and retail dealer of counterfeit oxycodone tablets containing fentanyl. Garcia was identified as the main source of the supply, purchasing the pills from Mexico and, with the help of co-conspirators, orchestrating their shipment from Arizona to Austin via the U.S. Postal Service. Agents began investigating the organization in March 2021, in response to fentanyl overdoses in and around Austin.
On Monday, Brock was sentenced to 90 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Garcia was sentenced to 87 months in prison and four years of supervised release.
“The defendants in this case took part in a large enterprise of criminal activity and will now face federal prison time thanks to the united efforts of our law enforcement partners,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas. “The penalties handed down to these young men should serve as examples to anyone who considers getting involved in these dangerous drug trafficking operations.”
“This sentence results from coordinated efforts that dissolved an enterprise profiting off our communities through manufacturing and distributing fake prescription pills laced with fentanyl,” said Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the DEA Houston Division. “Fake pills threaten the American people. We caution every person never to take any pharmaceuticals unless prescribed by a licensed physician and dispensed from a licensed pharmacy. DEA will continue to relentlessly pursue any individual or organization bringing these deadly fake pills into our communities.”
Eight codefendants have been sentenced since January. Adi Martinez Marquez, 21, of San Luis Potosi, Mexico, was sentenced to 14 months in prison; Ezequiel Azmitia-Jimenez, 20, of Lockhart, was sentenced to 36 months; Fernando Beltran, 22, of Austin, and Oliver Garcia, 21, of Lockhart, each received 180-month prison sentences; Matthew Juan, 20, of Austin, was sentenced to 90 months in prison; Andres Ruben Ramirez, 24, of Austin, was sentenced to 48 months; Daemon Garcia, 20, of San Marcos, was sentenced to 30 months; and Michael Bauman, 19, of Austin, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison.
The DEA, FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, along with the Austin, Cedar Park, San Angelo and San Marcos Police Departments investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Marshall prosecuted the case.
