Las Vegas Man Sentenced To 168 Months In Prison For Participating In Large-Scale Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy

          CONCORD - United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced that Edward Espejo, 45, formerly of Las Vegas, Nevada, was sentenced on Thursday to 168 months in prison for participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.  

          According to court documents and statements made in court, from at least July of 2016 through May of 2018, Espejo supplied drug distributors in New Hampshire with shipments of methamphetamine ranging in size from a few ounces to more than 20 pounds at a time. 

          The investigation began in late 2016, when the DEA and the Postal Inspection Service began to see numerous parcels mailed from Las Vegas to New Hampshire that were suspected of containing methamphetamine. In addition, law enforcement officers began to investigate parcels mailed from New Hampshire to Las Vegas containing large amounts of money, as well as suspected drug payments made through money transfers from New Hampshire to Las Vegas.

          Law enforcement agents eventually arrested several members of a methamphetamine distribution ring operating in New Hampshire, and traced the source of their drugs to Espejo.  On May 8, 2018, investigators arrested Espejo at his residence in Las Vegas.

          Several of the New Hampshire-based drug distributors supplied by Espejo already have been sentenced in federal court.  These individuals include: (1) Brian Lacourse, who was sentenced to six years in prison on August 23, 2018; (2) Katrina Jones, who was sentenced to 200 months in prison on August 9, 2018; (3) Dustin Moss, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison on August 2, 2018; and (4) Sabrina Moss, who was sentenced to six years in prison on June 28, 2018.

          Espejo previously pleaded guilty on August 31, 2018.  Several co-conspirators were sentenced to prison terms.  Michael Bean was sentenced to 120 months on April 19, 2019; John Kelekci was sentenced to 130 months on March 14, 2019;and Mark Moore was sentenced to 50 months in prison on May 6, 2019.

          “This 14-year prison term serves notice that distributing methamphetamine in New Hampshire is a very costly enterprise,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “This investigation and prosecution dismantled a network that was responsible for the distribution of large quantities of highly-pure methamphetamine.  I am grateful to the law enforcement agents whose work successfully disrupted this ring of traffickers who were bringing a very dangerous drug into the Granite State.”

          “Today’s sentencing should give fair warning that Postal Inspectors will investigate and bring to justice those individuals who traffic narcotics across state lines using the U.S. Mail,” said Inspector in Charge Joseph W. Cronin of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division.  “We will continue maximizing our agency’s resources to stop those who disregard our laws and smuggle drugs into our jurisdiction.” 

          This matter was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the DEA. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John Davis.

          This case was supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  The OCDETF program is a federal multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force that supplies supplemental federal funding to federal and state agencies involved in the identification, investigation, and prosecution of major drug trafficking organizations.  

###