Mexican National Sentenced To 60 Months For Drug Trafficking

United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Telesforo Lozano, 60, of Torreon, Mexico, was sentenced today to 60 months of imprisonment by Senior U.S. District Judge Callie V. S. Granade for drug trafficking.  The judge ordered that Lozano undergo 4 years of supervised release after finishing his term of imprisonment, receive substance abuse testing and deportation consideration, and pay a $200 mandatory special assessment.     

Following a two-day trial in July 2016, Lozano was found guilty by a federal jury of one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.  The jury heard evidence that Lozano was acting as a drug courier for a Mexican drug cartel and was hired to transport drugs from Mexico to Atlanta, Georgia.  On August 21, 2015, Lozano drove across the border from Juarez, Mexico into El Paso, Texas with 4.34 kilograms of cocaine concealed in a hidden compartment inside the engine of a black Ford F-150 truck.  On August 23, 2015, Lozano was pulled over for a traffic violation on I-10 East in Mobile County, Alabama by an Alabama State Trooper.  A subsequent search of Lozano’s truck led to law enforcement’s seizure of the concealed cocaine, which had a retail value of approximately $500,000.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys George May and Sinan Kalayoglu.