Chicago Man Sentenced to 14 Years for Possession of Methamphetamine in Tractor-Trailer Fuel Tank

OKLAHOMA CITY – ENRIQUE LARA, 37, of Chicago, Illinois, has been sentenced to fourteen years in prison for possessing with intent to distribute liquid methamphetamine concealed in the fuel tank of a tractor-trailer, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

On the morning of October 22, 2018, a detective with the Norman Police Department’s Special Investigations Section, Criminal Interdiction Unit, noticed that a tractor-trailer parked at a Norman motel bore a U.S. Department of Transportation number inconsistent with that agency’s numbering system.  When the detective asked the driver, Lara, for paperwork and his driver’s license, he noticed an odor of marijuana.  The detective also became suspicious because the paperwork appeared to be fake and because Lara was inexplicably hauling pallets in a refrigerated trailer.  Further checking revealed that the supposed shipper and receiver of the pallets had had no contact with Lara or his truck and that the trucking company had fired Lara in April. 

With the consent of Lara and his passenger, JASMINE MORALES, 22, of McAllen, Texas, the detective took the tractor-trailer to the Norman city garage.  During his inspection, he found that one of the gas tanks was full of a cloudy liquid with small crystals that tested positive for methamphetamine.  According to an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint, the fuel tank contained approximately 1,260 pounds—or approximately 150 gallons—of liquid methamphetamine, with an estimated value in the Oklahoma City area that could exceed $3,000,000.

The Drug Enforcement Administration responded to the scene immediately with a laboratory clean-up team and tested the liquid to confirm that it was methamphetamine.  Lara and Morales were arrested and taken to Cleveland County Jail.  Lara has remained in custody since that time.

A federal grand jury indicted Lara and Morales on November 7, 2018, for conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.  On March 4, 2019, Morales pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of misprision of a felony.  She was sentenced on August 22, 2019, to one year and one day in prison, to be followed by one year of supervised release. 

Lara pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute on March 11, 2019.  Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy D. DeGiusti sentenced Lara to fourteen years in prison.  At the end of his term, he must serve five years on supervised release.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the District 21 Drug Task Force, and the Norman Police Department.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma pursued this case with the assistance of, and in partnership with, Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn and his office.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nicholas J. Patterson, David P. Petermann, and Brandon Hale prosecuted the case.

Reference is made to court filings for further information.