NDTX Round-Up January 21

GUILTY PLEA – RAMON MENDOZA-VILLEGAS

On January 16, Ramon Mendoza-Villegas, 44, pled guilty to possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance, aiding and abetting. When Dallas Police Officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Mendoza was a passenger, they found methamphetamine and heroin. While executing a search warrant on Mendoza’s home, law enforcement found heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and three firearms within the apartment. In a similar search of a storage unit used by Mendoza, officers found methamphetamine, heroin, a shotgun, and the upper receiver of an assault rifle. Mendoza faces up to 20 years in federal custody. This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Dallas Police Department and prosecuted by AUSA Linda Requenez.

GUILTY PLEA – ISIDRO AMAYA

On January 15, Isidro Amaya, 22, was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in federal custody for possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A law enforcement officer stopped the car that Amaya was driving. When the officers conducted a Terry search, they located a firearm and two plastic baggies containing methamphetamine. Amaya admitted that the methamphetamine was for distribution and not personal consumption. He faces up to 8 years and 9 months in federal custody. This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco, and Explosives, and the Irving Police Department and was prosecuted by AUSA Danielle Jones.

SENTENCING – MICHAEL WRIGHT AND RICKEY CHERRY

On January 15, Michael Wright, 29, and Rickey Cherry, 29, were sentenced to 36 years and 25 years, respectively, in federal custody.  They were sentenced on multiple counts of interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Wright was involved in an armed robbery of an AT&T retail store in Ennis, where he stole $30,000 of inventory. He was arrested after a dangerous, high-speed pursuit, but posted bond the following day. Only twenty days later, Wright and Cherry robbed a RadioShack at gunpoint, and then another AT&T store in a similar fashion. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ennis Police Department, the Duncanville Police Department, the Grand Prairie Police Department, and the Dallas Police Department and prosecuted by AUSA Keith Robinson, AUSA Brian McKay, and AUSA Gary Tromblay. Click here to read more about this case.