James T. Jacks
Acting United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009
www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn

JUDGE SENTENCES MEN TO LENGTHY FEDERAL PRISON TERMS
FOR TRANSPORTING METHAMPHETAMINE ALONG INTERSTATE 40

AMARILLO, Texas — In two separate and unrelated cases today, U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson sentenced Joseph William Wolfe and Ramon Banuelos-Romero on their drug convictions stemming from their arrests last year by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Officers on Interstate 40, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

Joseph William Wolfe, 42, of Jay, Florida, was convicted at trial in February on one count of possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Today, Judge Robinson sentenced him to nearly 20 years (235 months) in prison. The charge stems from a traffic stop on August 20, 2008, which resulted in a DPS trooper finding 2.286 kilograms of methamphetamine in a rental car that Wolfe was driving along Interstate 40 near Amarillo, Texas. Evidence presented at trial showed that Wolfe was transporting the methamphetamine from Phoenix, Arizona, to the Boston, Massachusetts, area.

Ramon Banuelos-Romero, 34, of San Diego, California, was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison following his guilty plea in February 2008 to the same offense. On November 11, 2008, a DPS trooper stopped the sedan Banuelos-Romero was driving along I-40 in Carson County, Texas, for speeding. The trooper noticed fresh black silicone around the rubber stripping that held the windshield in place. The trooper knew that in this particular make and model vehicle, there was a unique compartment behind the firewall that was accessible by removing the front windshield. Banuelos-Romero and his female passenger gave inconsistent stories regarding their trip. The DPS trooper searched the vehicle and removed the windshield, finding twelve bundles of methamphetamine in a hidden compartment under the windshield.

The cases were investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas DPS. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vicki Lamberson and Matthew Gulde of the Amarillo, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the cases.

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