Austin, Texas Man Sentenced to 60 Months for His Part
in a Conspiracy to
Distribute Marijuana Which Lead to
the Killing
of a Law Enforcement Officer
Memphis, TN - Ruben GAUNA, 28, of Austin, Texas, was sentenced in the United States District Court on September 22, 2010 announced Edward L. Stanton, III, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. Chief Judge Jon P. McCalla imposed a sentence of sixty (60) months (the maximum) in prison for Conspiracy to distribute marijuana.
GAUNA was convicted on December 11, 2009. The evidence presented at the sentencing hearing showed that in early January, 2007, Orlando Garcia and Alejandro Gauna traveled to the Western and Middle Districts of Tennessee from Austin, Texas to sell marijuana. Both Orlando Garcia and Alejandro Gauna obtained marijuana from Ruben GAUNA for distribution in Tennessee. During a traffic stop of Garcia and Alejandro Gauna in Tipton County, Tennessee, for speeding, Trooper Calvin Jenks was shot and killed by Alejandro Gauna. After the shooting of the State Trooper Alejandro Gauna called his brother, Ruben, told him what he had done and told him that he needed to clean out the stash house. Ruben then called other co-conspirators and told them to flee the stash house, that the police would be coming and to report the car that Alejandro Gauna and Garcia were driving as stolen. Ruben, his brother, was the source of supply of the marijuana both Garcia and Alejandro Gauna were distributing.
The investigation was handled by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, (DEA), Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, (ATF), Tipton County Sheriff’s Department, Metro-Nashville Police Department, Brownsville Police Department, Tennessee Highway Patrol, (THP), Austin, Texas Police Department and Covington Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Jerry R. Kitchen handled the case for the government.
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