A 31-year-old man from Mission, Texas, has been sentenced to a total of 120 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to drug trafficking charges, U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani's office announced.
Esteban Almentor-Lopez was initially sentenced to serve 70 months for the first trafficking offense and subsequently received a consecutive 50 months for a second charge. The sentence is to be followed by four years of supervised release. According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Almentor-Lopez was caught transporting large quantities of methamphetamine on behalf of a Mexican drug supply organization, intending to distribute the drug to Chicago, Illinois.
The report highlighted that Almentor-Lopez was arrested after delivering 40 kilograms of meth in November 2020. Following his arrest and release on bond, he was again caught trying to deliver an additional 20 kilograms of meth the very next day after he pleaded guilty to the initial charges on March 1, 2021.
Investigators from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported the methamphetamine had a purity level of 100%. Following his sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, Almentor-Lopez is currently awaiting transfer to a federal prison where he will begin to serve out his sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura Garcia, who prosecuted the case, has noted the seriousness of these drug offenses and their impact on the community, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
