Nicholas J. Ganjei United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas | U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas
A 28-year-old Illinois resident, Rodrigo Mendez, has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for possession with intent to distribute over four kilograms of cocaine. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei following Mendez's guilty plea on September 1, 2022.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ordered that the prison term be followed by three years of supervised release. The sentencing follows an incident on June 23, 2022, when Mendez was stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Sarita while driving a Porsche Cayenne. A K-9 unit alerted officers to the presence of drugs, leading to the discovery of 4.34 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside a battery under the driver's seat.
The investigation revealed that Mendez had made ten previous trips from South Texas to the Chicago area for narcotics transportation. Authorities connected seven other drug seizures to the same organization, with six involving cocaine hidden in vehicle batteries.
Mendez remains in custody and will be transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility soon. The Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation with assistance from Border Patrol, while Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Pruitt and John Marck prosecuted the case.
