The former mayor of Progreso, Gerardo Alanis, has been given a 46-month federal prison sentence for his involvement in a cocaine distribution conspiracy, as announced by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of Texas, Alanis's guilty plea was entered on February 25, and he will also face three years of supervised release and a monetary fine of $15,000.
During Alanis's sentencing, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. highlighted the seriousness of the crime, particularly the involvement of a school building used to store and re-package the narcotics. "Dangerous drugs destroy lives on both sides of the border and that the use of school district property was an aggravating factor when determining the appropriate sentence," the court recognized, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office. The conspiracy, active from 2020 to 2022, involved smuggling cocaine from Mexico into the U.S. and concealing it in modified 18-wheelers for transport to states including Illinois, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Others involved in the far-reaching operation have also faced justice. For their parts in the drug trafficking organization, accomplices Francisco Alanis received a sentence of 150 months in prison, Eulalio Sierra 120 months, Jose Salas 47 months, and Ralph Lozano received time served. David Gomez-Ramos, Juan Pablo Serrata, and Gregorio Salinas have been sentenced to 139, 70 and 37 months, respectively. Non-U.S. citizens among the convicted – Gomez-Ramos, Serrata, and Salinas – are expected to face deportation after serving their terms.
The extensive investigation was carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, with support from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies, including Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Texas Rangers. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Watt and former AUSA Alejandra Andrade, within the framework of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces, an entity focused on dismantling high-level criminal organizations posing threats to the country. Alanis has been permitted to remain on bond and will voluntarily surrender to a federal institution in the near future to begin serving his prison term.
