Mexican Citizen Sentenced to 5 Years for Methamphetamine Trafficking in Madison

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Emmanuel Herrera Sanchez, 41, Mexico, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 5 years in federal prison for distributing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.  The prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Herrera Sanchez pleaded guilty to this charge on September 26, 2023.

On April 14, 2022, a confidential informant coordinated with Emmanuel Herrera Sanchez to purchase 10 kilograms of methamphetamine for $49,000.  Co-defendant Julio Alvarez Sanchez traveled to meet with the confidential informant at a parking lot in Madison and provided the confidential informant a toolbox containing 6.77 kilograms of methamphetamine.  Alvarez Sanchez was arrested following the drug deal.  Herrera Sanchez was arrested on June 13, 2022, by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers as he attempted to enter the United States from Mexico near Nogales, Arizona.

Alvarez Sanchez was interviewed by law enforcement and admitted to coordinating the April 14 delivery of methamphetamine with Herrera Sanchez and another associate, Juana Armenta Mora, who herself had delivered 973 grams of methamphetamine to a confidential informant about two weeks prior to the April 14, 2022 drug deal. Alvarez Sanchez also said he had completed additional deliveries of methamphetamine for Herrera Sanchez.

At sentencing, Judge Peterson noted that this was a very serious drug crime given the great quantity of methamphetamine involved and that it occurred in the context of an organized drug operation. In arriving at the five-year sentence, Judge Peterson weighed these aggravating factors against Herrera Sanchez’s lack of a prior criminal record.

Co-defendant Julio Alvarez Sanchez pleaded guilty to distributing 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and was sentenced by Judge Peterson to 60 months in federal prison on April 6, 2023.  Juana Armenta Mora pleaded guilty to distributing methamphetamine and was sentenced by Judge Peterson to 15 months in federal prison on December 22, 2022.

The charge against Herrera Sanchez was the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, Jefferson County Drug Task Force, and Madison Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven P. Anderson and Kathryn E. Ginsberg prosecuted this case.