Federal Judge Sentences Eight Involved In Drug Conspiracy Operating in Mecklenburg County

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – U.S. District Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. sentenced eight defendants today on drug conspiracy charges for their involvement in a narcotics distribution ring operating in Mecklenburg County. 

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearings, from 2015 until the 2018, the 10 defendants operated as a drug conspiracy responsible for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin in Mecklenburg County and surrounding areas.  Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement determined that the conspiracy trafficked hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine to the greater Charlotte area.  Those sentenced to date are:

• Angelo Mejia, 28, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 235 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
• Rodolfo Felix Medina, 49, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 188 months in prison and five years of supervised release (sentenced on 9/30/19).
• Julio Cesar Sanchez, 28, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 180 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
• Emilio Mejia, 30, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 168 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
• Jose Javier Reyes, 21, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 78 months in prison and five years of supervised release.
• Mauco Contreras, 22, of Charlotte, was sentenced to 72 months in prison and two years of supervised release.
• Alejandro Jose Lopez Ceballos, 20, was sentenced to 60 months in prison and two years of supervised release.
• Kevin Eliezer Velasquez Melendez, 23, of Concord, N.C., was sentenced to 46 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
• Edgar Jesus Magana, 26, of Charlotte was sentenced to 41 months in prison and two years of supervised release.
• Martha Olivia Placencia Beltran, 39, of Mexico, was sentenced to 14 months in prison (sentenced on 5/1/19).

In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney Murray praised the outstanding efforts of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, Charlotte Field Office (IRS-CI); the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department; the Gastonia Police Department; the Monroe Police Department; and the Union County Sheriff’s Office under the direction of Sheriff Eddie Cathey.  U.S. Attorney Murray also noted the invaluable assistance provided by the North Carolina National Guard Counterdrug Program.  

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Dillon and Assistant U.S. Attorney Erik Lindahl of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.

This prosecution is part of an extensive investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).  OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional level drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.