Mexican National Sentenced to Years in Federal Prison For Methamphetamine Trafficking and Money Laundering

BILLINGS - The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced today that Marco Antonio Alvarez-Acevedo, a 28 year-old citizen of Mexico and resident of Sunnyside, Washington, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for conviction on methamphetamine trafficking and money laundering charges.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters presided at the sentencing.

Alvarez was convicted of possession with intent to distribute meth and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In the summer of 2016, Drug Enforcement Administration agents learned from sources that Alvarez was a member of a drug trafficking organization in Washington that transported meth to Billings-area meth distributor Pedro Carrasco.  Sources indicated that Alvarez helped distribute methamphetamine to Carrasco and collect money from the sale of the meth.

During the investigation, agents obtained a contact number for a phone used by Alvarez.  An undercover agent communicated with Alvarez via phone and arranged for Alvarez to ship approximately one pound of methamphetamine to Billings.  The package of meth was then seized in Billings. A DEA lab analysis of the meth determined the package contained 442.7 grams of pure meth.

 The undercover agent continued communicating with Alvarez, who decided to travel to Montana in April 2016 to deliver more meth and collect money.  While traveling to Billings, Alvarez’s vehicle was stopped near Bozeman and agents confirmed that Alvarez was in the vehicle.  Agents searched the vehicle but did not seize any additional meth.   

Alvarez was held responsible for distributing 442.7 grams of pure meth.  That converts to 3,541 individual doses of pure meth that would have potentially reached drug users in Montana. 

In addition, Carrasco was sentenced in February 2018 to 14 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth and conspiracy to commit money laundering.   

This case was investigated by the DEA; Internal Revenue Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force; Montana Highway Patrol; and multiple other federal, state, and local agencies. 

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.   Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

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