KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court today to his role in a $9 million drug-trafficking conspiracy that distributed hundreds of kilograms of methamphetamine in the Kansas City area.
Porfirio Almeida-Perez, also known as “Cadena," “Flan," “Guarache" and “Pilo," 35, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to the charge contained in a March 13, 2012, federal indictment.
Almeida-Perez admitted that he participated in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine from Jan. 1, 2007, to March 13, 2012. Under the terms of today’s plea agreement, Almeida-Perez is jointly and severally liable with 31 co-defendants to pay a money judgment of $9 million. That amount represents the proceeds from the distribution of 272 kilograms of methamphetamine during the conspiracy, based on a conservative street price of $16,000 per pound.
According to today’s plea agreement, on Oct. 28, 2011, a co-conspirator was delivering a shipment of methamphetamine from California to Almeida-Perez, who was heavily involved with distributing methamphetamine in the Kansas City area. The co-conspirator was arrested by Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers, who stopped the co-conspirator on I-29 and searched his vehicle. Upon searching the vehicle’s engine compartment the trooper discovered a false radiator and recovered eight packages of methamphetamine, weighing approximately nine pounds.
Under federal statutes, Almeida-Perez is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison without parole, up to a sentence of life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $10 million. A sentencing hearing is scheduled on Feb. 28, 2014.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Marquez. It was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Jackson County Drug Task Force, the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Kansas State Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
