BROWNSVILLE, Texas—A Texas man will spend 25 years in prison for his role in distributing around 33,000 pounds of marijuana for the Gulf Cartel. The narco boss was responsible for a distribution line that spanned from this Texas border city to Houston.
On Wednesday morning, 37-year-old Hervey Roel went before U.S. District Judge Andre Hanen, who handed down a 300-month prison sentence. The judge ordered Roel to turn over $9 million in drug proceeds and two properties that the man had bought with drug money in Texas.
While prosecutors did not disclose the criminal organization Roel belonged to, Breitbart Texas consulted with law enforcement officials who confirmed that Roel is in fact a member of the Gulf Cartel, which actually controlled a distribution route in Texas.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Roel and his associates were in fact armed when they carried out their drug conspiracy in Texas.
One of the properties is a ranch in the border town of San Benito and the other property is a house in Brownsville. In addition to the sentence, Hanen also ordered him to go into drug and alcohol treatment, take anger management classes, and get a high school diploma.
The charges against Roel stem from a June 2013 investigation when agents with Homeland Security Investigations surveilled a drug shipment outside of a commercial warehouse in Brownsville. As authorities carried out their operation they noticed that the drug traffickers were carrying out a counter surveillance operation of their own.
Authorities seized the vehicle that held more than 1,700 pounds of marijuana inside. As part of the investigation authorities learned that Roel coordinated multiple shipments of marijuana to Houston and other areas.
During the hearing, attorneys from both sides agreed that the maximum amount of drugs that Roel was responsible for approached 15,000 kilos of marijuana—or about 33,000 pounds.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.