A Corpus Christi resident, aged 58, has been sentenced to a total of 200 months in prison for meth trafficking and violations of supervised release. This was announced by U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Tony Maldonado, also known as Diablo, admitted guilt on February 1, 2024, to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. U.S. District Judge David S. Morales sentenced Maldonado to 188 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release for this offense.

During the court hearing, it was revealed that Maldonado was already on supervised release for two other federal drug cases from 2000 and 2013 when he was arrested again for distributing narcotics. The court noted that Maldonado had been a long-time member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang.

For his previous offenses, Judge Morales considered the violations of supervised release and sentenced him to additional terms: 50 months for the case from 2000 and 24 months for the case from 2013. The judge ordered that the term of 50 months be served concurrently with his current sentence while mandating that 12 out of the 24 months run consecutively. This resulted in a cumulative sentence of 200 months in federal prison.

Judge Morales highlighted Maldonado's extensive criminal history during sentencing and emphasized the need for consequences due to violations of supervised release.

In mid-2023, law enforcement found evidence that Maldonado was distributing drugs from his elderly parent's home. Following an investigation spanning several months, authorities executed a federal search warrant on August 29, 2023. They seized approximately 83.86 grams of heroin and 39.34 grams of methamphetamine along with jail letters indicating his active involvement with the Texas Syndicate gang.

Maldonado will remain in custody until he is transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.

The Drug Enforcement Administration led an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation with support from the FBI, Corpus Christi Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations to investigate this case. OCDETF focuses on identifying and dismantling high-level criminal organizations using a collaborative approach involving multiple agencies.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Barbara J. De Pena and Brittany Jensen were responsible for prosecuting this case.