An El Paso man pleaded guilty to smuggling cocaine and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, authorities said.
Jose Villa, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance on Thursday, April 30, El Paso District Attorney James Montoya announced in a news release. The case was resolved as part of a plea agreement with the district attorney’s office, court records show.
Judge Sam Medrano of the 409th District Court accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Villa to 12 years in prison. The plea and sentencing hearing was held at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso. Assistant District Attorney Shivam Patel prosecuted the case for the district attorney’s office.
DPS stop leads to discovery of cocaine
A Texas Department of Public Safety state trooper conducted a traffic stop in October 2023 on Villa’s Kenworth tractor-trailer off Interstate 10 near the Clint exit in far East El Paso.
Villa “raised the trooper’s suspicion during the traffic stop” and gave the trooper permission to search the truck, the news release states. No information was provided on what caused the trooper to become suspicious.
The trooper found six bundles wrapped in electrical tape underneath the truck’s bed. The bundles were covered in engine oil and later tested positive for cocaine, the news release states. The bundles contained about 6.9 kilograms of cocaine.
Villa initially denied knowing about the drugs, but later admitted that he agreed to pick up the drugs at a gas station north of the Ysleta Port of Entry near El Paso’s Lower Valley, the news release states.
“Cases like this demonstrate the very real role our region plays in disrupting the flow of narcotics before they reach communities across the country,” Montoya said in a news release. “This sentence reflects a continued commitment to hold those who traffic large quantities of narcotics through El Paso County accountable.”
Aaron Martinez covers the criminal justice system for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso man pleads guilty to cocaine smuggling, sentenced to prison
Reporting by Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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