A Magee resident, Santos Vidal Estrada, 34, has pleaded guilty in federal court to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The plea was entered on February 18 in Jackson, Mississippi.
Court documents and statements revealed that joint operations by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Federal Bureau of Investigation identified Estrada as distributing narcotics from his home in Simpson County. Authorities executed a federal search warrant at Estrada’s residence on October 23, 2025, discovering large amounts of methamphetamine with purity rates at 100%. Following this operation, a criminal complaint was filed against Estrada on October 24, 2025. He was later indicted by a federal grand jury on November 5, 2025.
Estrada is set for sentencing on May 21, 2026. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years in prison and could receive up to life imprisonment. Additional penalties include a fine not exceeding $10 million and at least five years of supervised release after incarceration. The final sentence will be determined by a federal district court judge who will consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Baxter Kruger for the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff announced the guilty plea.
The FBI led the investigation with support from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Brett Grantham is prosecuting the case.
This prosecution was conducted as part of the Mississippi Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) under Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline). These task forces were created through Executive Order 14159 under President Trump to protect communities from violent crime and combat transnational criminal organizations. Operation Take Back America brings together resources from multiple Department of Justice initiatives focused on organized crime and public safety.
