A dozen Lubbock drug traffickers have been sentenced to a combined 106 years in federal prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Chad E. Meacham.

The defendants were arrested during the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Operation Los Perros De Nieve (“Operation Snow Dogs”), which also resulted in the seizure of multiple kilograms of cocaine, more than a dozen firearms, and roughly $80,000 cash from drug dealers in Lubbock.

The last of 12 in-custody defendants, Ruben Alejandro Rodriguez-Parada, was sentenced yesterday to almost four years in federal prison.  A 13th charged defendant remains a fugitive.

According to court documents, DEA agents used a confidential informant to buy cocaine from several defendants. They also executed search warrants at several defendants’ residences, including their vehicles, and seized five bricks of cocaine from a storage unit in Lubbock.

One defendant, Robert Bruno, admitted that he regularly worked with a cocaine source of supply in Mexico, who delivered the drug with little advance notice and then aggressively collected on his debts.

“Cocaine extracts a terrible toll, wreaking havoc on users’ bodies and brains. We are determined to dismantle the organizations that inject this drug into our communities. The sentences announced today send a message to would-be dealers in Lubbock: The penalty for cocaine distribution is serious,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham.

“Cocaine is not manufactured in Lubbock nor does the coca plant, from where it is derived, grow in West Texas’ fertile land.  Its prevalence and distribution in the area must be deliberate and for only one purpose:  greed,” said DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Eduardo A. Chávez, who oversees DEA operations in Lubbock.  “These sentences handed down to Mr. Rodriguez-Parada, Mr. Bruno, and their co-conspirators should send a message to all violent drug trafficking organizations operating in the area that decisions based on greed could lead to more than a collective century in prison.”

Those who’ve been sentenced include:

• Ronnie Manuel Garcia – pleaded guilty to possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of firearms; sentenced to 180 months in federal prison.
• Jonathan Phillip “J.P.” Reyes – pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine; sentenced to 240 months in federal prison (to run consecutively to any sentence imposed in the state case against him).
• Raul Perez, III – pleaded guilty to distribution of cocaine; sentenced to 235 months in federal prison (to run consecutively to any sentence imposed in the state case against him).
• Krystal Lynn Ramos – pleaded guilty to misprision (concealment) of a felony; sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.
• Amy Shawn “Evon” Rodriguez – pleaded guilty to misprision (concealment) of a felony; sentenced to 27 months in federal prison.
• Juan Moncada – pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base; sentenced to 125 months in federal prison (to run consecutively to any sentence imposed in the state case against him).
• Jacob Anthony Molina – pleaded guilty to possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; sentenced to 60 months in federal prison.
• Jeremy Wayne “Lil’ Jay” Beck – pleaded guilty to possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; sentenced to 60 months in federal prison.
• Michael Paul Perez – pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine; sentenced to 63 months in federal prison.
• Robert Lee Bruno – pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine; sentenced to 188 months in federal prison.
• Amaris Arestin Leon – pleaded guilty to misprision (concealment) of a felony; sentenced to 30 months in federal prison (to run consecutively to any sentence imposed in state cases against him).
• Ruben Alejandro Rodriguez-Parada – pleaded guilty to money laundering; sentenced to 46 months in federal prison.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division and the Lubbock Police Department with assistance from the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division, Homeland Security Investigations’ Dallas Field Office, and the Texas Department of Safety. This investigation was carried out as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program with the coordination of the Lubbock HIDTA group and Texas Anti-Gang initiative. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Long is prosecuting the case.