The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Chad E. Meacham, announced that a local Dallas cell cartel leader with the Santa Rosa Lima Drug Cartel and other Mexico-based drug trafficking organizations was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison April 20.
According to the announcement, Carlos Espinoza Juarez, a 33-year-old Mexican national, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, and money laundering, in July 2020.
According to his plea papers, cartel leader, Juarez admitted that he directed Heriberto Talamantes-Ceballos, a co-defendant, to deliver about an ounce of heroin to a buyer for $880 on February 8, 2015.
Juarez also directed another co-defendant, Edwin Contreras-Diaz, to deliver approximately three ounces of heroin to another buyer for $2640 on March 12.
According to his plea papers, Juarez also admitted to trafficking three kilograms of heroin to Dorchester, Massachusetts.
According to the announcement, Juarez pleaded guilty to distributing drugs throughout Texas and South Carolina over at least 4 years as the drug cartel leader.
Juarez admitted to laundering money from drug sales by using fake names to wire funds to recipients in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Juarez’s conviction adds him to the already growing list of defendants that have been convicted in relation to the drug cartel case.
So far, seven other defendants, including Edwin Contreras-Diaz, aka “Flaco,” John Paul Sanchez, Bianca Jeannette Martinez, Omar Suarez-Garcia, and Heriberto Talamantes-Ceballos, all pleaded to possession of heroin with intent to distribute.
Marcos Fernando Valle pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, while Adrian Lopez Olalde got 72 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to money laundering.
Juarez agreed to forfeit six firearms, two vehicles, including a Chevy Tahoe and a GMC Sierra, and over $35,000 in cash as part of his plea deal.
The case originated from a North Texas-led Organized Crime Drug Task Force investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George Leal. U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade sentenced Juarez.
