A Roma man's bid for freedom ended with a 15-year sentence in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking operation. As reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Adan Ontiveros Jr., aged 35, was convicted of conspiring to distribute a substantial quantity of marijuana, 2,477 kilograms to be precise, valued at more than $33 million. Ontiveros pled guilty earlier this year on April 24.
Trying to escape law enforcement, Ontiveros' attempt to discreetly flee through an attic vent in a suspected drug house was unsuccessful. This incident, occurring back on July 16, 2020, led to his subsequent arrest by the watching authorities. During the surveillance in Roma, Ontiveros did not make it far before he was taken into custody, the statement by the U.S. Attorney's Office detailed.
The search following his capture led to the discovery of the bundled marijuana. Under U.S. District Chief Judge Randy Crane's order, Ontiveros now faces a decade and a half in federal prison, a sentence to be followed by a decade of supervised release. While awaiting transfer to a federal prison facility, Ontiveros will remain in custody.
The Texas Department of Public Safety and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted the investigation leading to Ontiveros' arrest and conviction. Tasked with the prosecution of this case, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Phelps and Roberto Lopez Jr. have seen it through its conclusion, culminating in this recently delivered sentence, as mentioned in the press release.
