A 35-year-old San Antonio man described by federal prosecutors as a sergeant in the Texas Mexican Mafia has been sentenced to 250 months in federal prison for drug trafficking and firearm offenses. David Cortez Jr., who also went by the nicknames Tazmanian and Taz, was arrested in October 2020 after he was found in possession of heroin and a loaded handgun.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas announced the sentence, which was handed down in San Antonio, according to KENS 5. Federal prosecutors identified Cortez as a member of the Texas Mexican Mafia, and court documents state that he served as a sergeant within the gang. The Drug Enforcement Administration said its investigation found that Cortez discussed collecting drug proceeds for the gang in order to finance another multi-kilogram methamphetamine purchase.
Authorities said the narcotics were seized before they could be distributed in the community, according to federal prosecutors. Cortez was indicted alongside 11 co-defendants on September 30, 2020, in a case investigated jointly by the DEA, FBI and San Antonio Police Department.
One Co-Defendant Still Awaiting Sentencing
Every defendant in the case has now been sentenced except Rudy Arreola, who was indicted separately in 2021 and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 10, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Another defendant tied to the broader organization, Donald Trevino, identified as the Texas Mexican Mafia's free-world general, was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison in October 2022.
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons credited the DEA, FBI and San Antonio Police Department with helping investigate the case and disrupt the organization's drug trafficking operations. DEA Special Agent in Charge Miguel C. Madrigal said the agency's San Antonio Division saved lives and dismantled Cortez's efforts to profit from community destruction. Daniel Faith said the sentence reflects law enforcement agencies' ongoing efforts to keep illegal drugs out of local communities.
Part of a Broader Federal Crackdown
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Yuen prosecuted the case, which federal officials say is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative focused on immigration enforcement, dismantling cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and combating violent crime.
Cortez's sentence lands in a similar range to other recent federal cases against Texas Mexican Mafia figures. A Texas Mexican Mafia leader was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for a methamphetamine-trafficking conspiracy, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of Texas. In a separate case from 2019, a former Texas Mexican Mafia free-world general was sentenced to life in federal prison for an extortion conspiracy, the Justice Department said, in a prosecution that the department noted had by then produced 37 convictions of gang members and associates, with 21 of those sentences ranging from 63 months to life in federal prison.
