Fayetteville Man Sentenced to Over 11 Years in Federal Prison for Immigration and Drug Trafficking Offense

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FAYETTEVILLE MAN SENTENCED TO  OVER 11 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR IMMIGRATION AND DRUG TRAFFICKING OFFENSE

            Fayetteville - Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Melquaides Lopez-Del Angel, aka Eduardo Lopez-Corpus, aka Nacho, age 40, of Fayetteville, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison on one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute More than 500 Grams of a Mixture or Substance Containing Methamphetamine in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a) and (b)(1)(A)(viii) and 120 months on one count of Illegal Reentry by Removed Alien Following a Felony Conviction. Lopez’s sentence will run concurrently and be followed by five years of supervised release.  The Honorable Timothy O. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Fayetteville.

            According to court records, Lopez was caught by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in the parking lot of a Rogers, Arkansas restaurant waiting to make a delivery of methamphetamine.  A search of the vehicle in which he was traveling yielded what was later confirmed to be 646 grams of actual methamphetamine.  When interviewed by investigators, Lopez admitted he had come to the restaurant to deliver the methamphetamine to another person, and that he had done so on two or three previous occasions.  After arrest, it was also determined by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that Lopez had been previously removed from the United States by deportation in 2013 and was currently in the country without lawful permission.  Lopez pleaded guilty to the charges in September, 2015.

            This case was investigated by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.  Assistant United States Attorney Brandon Carter prosecuted the case for the United States.

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Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website @ www.pacer.gov