A Mexican national has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for trafficking drugs through the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Damien M. Diggs.
Eduardo Fernando Martinez-Gonzalez, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison on August 15 by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant. Martinez-Gonzalez was also sentenced to 240 months in federal prison for conspiracy to launder money. The sentences will run concurrently.
According to information presented in court, in July 2019, federal agents investigating the trafficking of multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin in the Dallas, Lewisville, McKinney, Carrollton, Fort Worth, and Plano, Texas, areas, determined that the drugs were sourced by an individual in Mexico with ties to the Sinaloa Cartel and that the drugs were shipped from Mexico to California and eventually to the greater Dallas area. During the investigation, Eduardo Fernando Martinez-Gonzalez, a/k/a Eduardo Torres-Hernandez, Eduardo Del Valle, Eduardo Del Valle Torres, and Lalo (Martinez-Gonzalez), was identified as a money launderer and illicit drug distributor for the drug trafficking organization in Dallas.
Martinez-Gonzalez was responsible for receiving, counting, and packaging the drug proceeds along with recruiting others and paying their rent to conduct drug trafficking activities at their residences. In one instance, in June 2020, federal agents observed a single axle trailer arrive at a stash house on South Waterview Street in Richardson, where Martinez-Gonzalez was seen unloading the trailer. Past observations indicated trailers would arrive at that location loaded with cocaine and heroin, be off-loaded, and then reloaded with U.S. currency and a “cover load” for delivery to Mexico. The trailers would leave that location and arrive at a location on Townsend Drive in Dallas, where an additional “cover load” was added before leaving for Mexico the following day. Agents followed the driver of the trailer to the Townsend location where it was seized. A search of the trailer revealed two large televisions, a hot water heater, a Louis Vuitton bag, and four boxes of ceramic tile. The bottom of the water heater had been cut out, and seven bundles were taped inside. The bundles contained $774,910 in U.S. currency and approximately 58 grams of an orange, oval, pill.
This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.
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