United States Attorney James T. Jacks
Northern District of Texas

THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2011
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/txn/

LAST DEFENDANT SENTENCED IN VERNON, TEXAS, METHAMPHETAMINE AND COCAINE DISTRIBUTION CONSPIRACY CASE

Jimmie Clifford Richardson Sentenced to 20 Years in Federal Prison

DALLAS — At a sentencing hearing held this morning, U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor sentenced Jimmie Clifford Richardson, 47, of Vernon, Texas, to 240 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in November 2010 to one count of distribution of a controlled substance (crack cocaine). Richardson, who has been in custody since his arrest in August 2010, received an enhanced sentence because of a prior felony drug trafficking conviction in Wilbarger County, Texas. The announcement was made today by U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

Richardson’s co-defendant, Valerie Doby, 21, also of Vernon, also pleaded guilty in November 2010 to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance (crack cocaine) and one count of aiding and abetting the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. She was sentenced in February 2011 to 120 months in federal prison.

In a related case, seven additional Vernon residents who were charged in a separate indictment, were arrested in August 2010 for their roles in a methamphetamine and cocaine drug distribution conspiracy. All of the arrests were the results of the investigative efforts of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Wichita Falls Police Department, the Wilbarger County District Attorney’s Office and the Vernon Police Department. All defendants pleaded guilty to their roles in the conspiracy, which ran from December 2008 to August 2010, rather than proceed to trial, and were sentenced as follows:

∙ Guillermo Lorenzo Urista, 24, 262 months
∙ Nicholas Gilbert Leija, Sr., 33, 63 months
∙ Armando Rodriguez, Jr., 34, 40 months
∙ Abraham Socorro Garcia, 22, 78 months
∙ Mario Escobar, Jr., 25, 120 months
∙ John Thomas Coston, 27, 120 months
∙ Beatriz Urista, 22, 46 months

During the course of executing several federal and state search and arrest warrants, law enforcement seized narcotics, drug distribution paraphernalia, firearms and cash.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Dewald of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas.

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