Security News: Mexican National Sentenced To Nearly 20 Years For Trafficking Dozens Of Kilograms Of Methamphetamine And Possessing A Shotgun And Three Handguns

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, FL – U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday has sentenced Evaristo Marin-Dominguez (34, Michoacan, Mexico) to 19 years and 7 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.  Marin-Dominguez had pleaded guilty on April 26, 2022.

According to court documents, Marin-Dominguez sold a kilogram of methamphetamine to a law enforcement source in November 2020, after a broker in Mexico provided the source with Marin-Dominguez’s phone number. During a later meeting to pick up money from the source, Marin-Dominguez admitted to having just delivered 8 kilograms of methamphetamine and having another 16 kilograms available.

Marin-Dominguez was arrested in Highlands County, in the Southern District of Florida, the following year. During an execution of a search warrant at Marin-Dominguez’s residence, authorities seized almost four kilograms of methamphetamine, almost a quarter kilogram of heroin, a shotgun, a rifle, three pistols, and various drug paraphernalia.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, the Hardee County Sheriff’s Office, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office, the Largo Police Department, the Plant City Police Department, the Winter Haven Police Department, and the University of South Florida Police Department. This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.  It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dan Baeza.