Drug Courier Sentenced to Serve a Prison Term of 37 Months for His Role in a Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine

United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announced that United States Senior District Court Judge Callie V.S. Granade sentenced Jose Francisco Esparza-Arevalo on December 12, 2018 to serve a term of imprisonment of 37 months, in addition to time already served, followed by 3 years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Possess with the Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine in violation of 21 USC § 846.   The defendant’s guilty plea was accepted by the Court on August 22, 2018.

On March 15, 2018, the defendant was stopped in a traffic stop on Interstate 65 in Saraland, Alabama.  The traffic stop lead to the recovery of multiple kilograms of methamphetamine in the gas tank of the vehicle.  The gas tank had been retrofitted with a baffle in order that a separate compartment, separate from the gasoline fueling the vehicle, contained the methamphetamine.  The defendant had driven the vehicle from San Antonio, Texas and was operating as a courier for another individual.  The defendant was planning to deliver the methamphetamine to the Atlanta, Georgia area for the other individual.   A query of the United States Border Protection Land Entry database revealed that the vehicle that the defendant was driving had crossed the U.S./Mexican border 805 times since March of 2013.  The most recent inbound crossing before the stop occurred on March 12, 2018. Esparza-Arevalo was in the United States illegally and is expected to be returned to Mexico after he serves his prison term.

The case was investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Saraland Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDEFT) Lead Attorney, Assistant United States Attorney George F. May and Assistant United States Attorney Lawrence J. Bullard for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.