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Published on July 20, 2024
Tucson Man Sentenced to 33 Months for Meth Distribution in DEA StingSource: Unsplash/Tingey Injury Law Firm

Tucson man, Reynaldo Parra-Villagrana, 27, was recently sentenced to just under three years in federal prison for his role in a narcotics distribution conspiracy, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. After being arrested in a DEA operation, Parra-Villagrana pleaded guilty last December to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and will now face 33 months behind bars followed by a supervised release period of five years.

The arrest and subsequent conviction were part of an investigation led by the DEA, where Parra-Villagrana was found to have delivered significant quantities of meth — to the tune of 878.8 grams — to an undercover officer. The incident, unfolding in the unsuspecting setting of a sporting goods store parking lot in May 2019, marked him as a player on behalf of a Mexico-based narcotics supplier. The undercover operation was one of the many efforts to aggressively tackle not only disrupt but also dismantle top-level drug traffickers that pose a threat to the community.

This case falls under the banner of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) program, which takes a multi-agency approach to target the criminal networks that traffic drugs, launder money, and engage in other forms of transnational organized crime. The OCDETF uses a combination of prosecutorial and agency intelligence to take down these networks from the top down, employing the joint efforts of federal, state, and local law enforcement.

The Tucson branch of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force was involved in the investigation working alongside the DEA. Assistant United States Attorney Michael R. Lizano handled the prosecution. Parra-Villagrana's case, numbered CR-22-02352-TUC-RM, stands as a testament to the determined efforts to continue to combat the flow of narcotics across the border and into American communities.