LAREDO, Texas - A 43-year-old man from Laredo has been ordered to prison following his conviction of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and import both cocaine and marijuana, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Abe Martinez. Arturo Valladolid Jr. pleaded guilty Oct. 18, 2016.
Today, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ordered Valladolid to serve a 240-month term of imprisonment to be immediately followed by a 10-year term of supervised release after his custodial sentence.
Between October 2015 and June 2016, Valladolid was involved in several drug trafficking events. On Oct. 28, 2015, authorities seized more than five kilograms of cocaine in a tractor-trailer which had been seen leaving a warehouse Valladolid utilized. Another tractor-trailer was seen leaving a warehouse associated with Valladolid on March 16, 2016. That trailer was found to contain more than 100 kilograms of marijuana.
On June 7, 2016, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant on Valladolid’s residence in the Alexander’s Commonwealth subdivision of Laredo. At that time, they discovered more than 100 kilograms of marijuana in his attic.
Valladolid ultimately admitted that he was being paid to store the marijuana.
He has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
HSI conducted the investigation with assistance from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher dos Santos is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
