A 51-year-old Raymondville resident has been sentenced for trafficking drugs, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
A federal jury deliberated for two hours before convicting Juan Posas Jr. June 27 of trafficking cocaine and conspiracy to do so.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez has now ordered Posas to serve 162 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At sentencing the Government pointed out Juan Posas knew the consequences of the actions he was taking.
Posas is a former Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer. At trial, the jury heard that on June 6, 2022, Posas traveled from Raymondville to a Home Depot in Weslaco where he met with Alexis Soria-Soria, 25, a Mexican national illegally residing in the United States. Soria then transferred a box containing approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine into Posas’ truck.
At trial, the jury heard recordings of phone conversations in which Posas helped plan the drug smuggling attempt.
However, the defense attempted to convince the jury that Soria approached him in the parking lot and simply asked if he wanted free fruits, then placed a box of fruits in his car. He said he never checked the box to see what was inside. The jury did not believe his claims and found him guilty as charged.
Posas will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jongwoo Chung and Jose A. Garcia prosecuted the case.
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