A heroin trafficker who fled the scene of a controlled delivery has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.
Frank Alex Juarez, 22, of Terrell, Texas, pleaded guilty in July to possession with intent to distribute heroin. He was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Ada Brown.
According to plea papers, Mr. Juarez admitted that he received more than 100 grams of heroin during an controlled delivery managed by the DEA on Sept. 10, 2020.
During the delivery, the defendant became nervous and fled from law enforcement at a high rate of speed.
Later, he delivered the heroin to another person. (This is an ongoing investigation.)
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division conducted the investigation with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Mesquite Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal prosecuted the case.
The case stems from an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
