Indictment: 15 Pounds Of Meth Seized From Driver In Merriam

KANSAS CITY, KAN. - A man from Mexico was indicted in federal court here Wednesday on charges of possessing 15 pounds of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Guillermo Fernandez-Vera, 38, a citizen of Mexico, is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Fernandez-Vera initially was charged in December in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan. An affidavit filed in support of the complaint alleges that the investigation began when the Drug Enforcement Administration received information that a man driving a Toyota Tacoma with Mexican license plates could be found at the Drury Inn in Merriam with approximately 15 pounds of methamphetamine. When investigators stopped Fernandez-Vera’s car on Dec. 26, 2013, they found the methamphetamine in seven large rectangular packages hidden inside the seat-backs of the rear truck seats of the vehicle.

If convicted, he faces a penalty of not less than 10 years and not more than life in federal prison and a fine up to $10 million. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble is prosecuting.

OTHER INDICTMENTS

Patrick C. Hains, 38, Wichita, Kan.; Wyatt Leedy, 35, Wichita, Kan.; and Jose Ramon Monelongo-Castrejon, 28, Wichita, Kan., are charged with conspiring to sell a pound of methamphetamine to an undercover investigator for $20,000.

The three men are charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. In addition, Hains is charged with four counts of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. The crimes are alleged to have occurred Jan. 14, 2014, in Sedgwick County, Kan.

The men initially were charged in a criminal complaint filed Jan. 16 in U.S. District Court in Wichita. An affidavit in support of the complaint alleges investigators agreed to pay Hains $20,000 for a pound of methamphetamine. Hains was arrested Jan. 14, 2014, at Pelican Point apartments in Wichita when he attempted to make the sale.

Upon conviction, the conspiracy charge carries a penalty of not less than five years and not more than 40 years in federal prison and a fine up to $5 million. The firearms charges carry a mandatory penalty of five years --  consecutive to the sentence on the drug charge -- and a fine up to $250,000. The Wichita Police Department investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting.

Faustino Soto, 41, who is being held in the Shawnee County Jail, is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a user of controlled substances. The crimes are alleged to have occurred Jan. 13, 2014, in Shawnee County, Kan.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on the charge of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, not less than five years and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of unlawful possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and a maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000 on the remaining count. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Topeka Police Department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation Task Force investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Randy Hendershot is prosecuting.

Lioncio Borjas-Madrid, 25, Kansas City, Kan., and Luis Borjas-Madrid, 20, Kansas City, Kan., are charged in an indictment.

Lioncio Borjas-Madrid is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person who is unlawfully in the United States and one count of unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported.

 Luis Borjas-Madrid is charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a person who is unlawfully in the United States and one count of unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported.

Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:
Possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine: A maximum penalty of 20 years and a fine up to $1 million.
Possession of a firearm by a person not lawfully in the United States: A maximum penalty of 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.
Unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported: A maximum penalty of two years and a fine up to $250,000.

ICE-DHS investigated. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Tomasic is prosecuting.

In all cases, defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictments merely contain allegations of criminal conduct.