Two La Monte Men Sentenced for Drug Trafficking

 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that two La Monte, Mo., men were sentenced in federal court today in separate but related cases that stem from an investigation into a Mexican drug-trafficking organization.

These cases are part of a federal investigation of the Los Parientes drug-trafficking organization, composed of a group of Mexican nationals who illegally smuggled large quantities of methamphetamine into southern California, which would then be driven cross-country to Kansas City, Kan., for further distribution.

USA vs. Torres

Jose Martinez Torres, 27, of La Monte was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan to 10 years and one month in federal prison without parole.

On Nov. 5, 2012, Torres pleaded guilty to his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from August 2010 to Nov. 25, 2011. Torres admitted that he participated in two undercover drug buys involving an undercover law enforcement officer. Torres supplied 1 ½ ounces of methamphetamine to Justin Jeremiah Sorrell of Green Ridge, Mo., for $3,100, which Sorrell sold to the undercover officer. During the transaction, Torres explained how his cousins brought the methamphetamine from Sinaloa, Mexico, and stated that the guy they obtained the methamphetamine from in Sinaloa was number two on the FBI’s ten most wanted list.  He explained how the methamphetamine was moved from Sinaloa to Tijuana, Mexico, where it was smuggled across the border. A few days later, Torres again supplied methamphetamine to Sorrell. Sorrell then sold an undercover law enforcement officer two ounces of methamphetamine for $3,400.

Torres was arrested during a traffic stop on July 8, 2011. During a search of his vehicle, a state trooper found a bag of methamphetamine and a bag of cocaine hidden inside a flashlight under the driver’s seat. After being released on bond by state authorities, he was later arrested on a federal warrant. When officers searched his car, they found two pistols and $80,000, which Torres must forfeit to the government along with $6,051 found in the pockets of his jacket.

Sorrell, who pleaded guilty in a separate case, was sentenced on April 1, 2013, to four years in federal prison without parole.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force, the Sedalia, Mo., Police Department and the Warrensburg, Mo, Police Department.

USA vs. Arroyo

Miguel Angel Arroyo, 26, of La Monte, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

On March 25, 2013, Arroyo pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine. Arroyo admitted that he sold two ounces of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer for $2,800. During the transaction, Arroyo stated that he was selling four pounds of methamphetamine each week and that he was expecting 400 pounds of marijuana “coming in next week.”

On another occasion, Arroyo sold a pound of marijuana to an undercover law enforcement officer for $650.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Sedalia, Mo., Police Department.