Lincoln Man Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that on March 12, 2012, Luis Corrales, 23, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison. Corrales was sentenced to 14 years for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and a consecutive sentence of two years for violating the terms of his supervised release following an earlier conviction for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Following the prison term, Corrales will serve an additional five years on supervised release.

On January 18, 2011, Corrales was released from federal custody in Kansas after completing a 36-month sentence imposed after a 2008 conviction for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. At that time, Corrales was ordered to report to the United States Probation Office to begin serving a five-year term of supervised release. Corrales failed to do as directed. Instead, he returned to Lincoln and contacted a person who was a source of methamphetamine for him prior to his 2008 arrest on the earlier case. Corrales then began obtaining methamphetamine and cocaine for resale in the Lincoln area. In July and August of 2011, a Lincoln Police Department undercover officer purchased quantities of methamphetamine from Corrales on four occasions ranging from 4.7 grams to 8.4 grams. Information provided to law enforcement indicated that between January and October of 2011, Corrales was responsible for the distribution of at least 500 grams (approximately 18 ounces) of methamphetamine and at least 100 grams (approximately 3.5 ounces) of cocaine.

On December 9, 2011, Corrales pled guilty to an information charging him with conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. On March 12, 2012, Corrales admitted to violating the terms of his supervised release order by failing to contact a probation officer within 72 hours of his release from federal custody on January 18, 2011. The possible penalty for the conspiracy charge was not less than 10 years and not more than life imprisonment, a fine of not more than $10,000,000, and a term of supervised release following the prison term of not less than five years. The supervised release violation carried a possible penalty of up to five years in prison and a possible additional term of supervised release of up to five years.

The matter was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Narcotics Task Force, which includes officers of the Lincoln Police Department, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Police Department.