Titus County Man Sentenced for Drug Trafficking Violation
| U.S. Attorney’s Office March 01, 2012 |
TYLER, TX—A 42-year-old Mt. Pleasant, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for drug trafficking crimes in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.
Ernesto Valles Moreno pleaded guilty on April 1, 2011 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison today by U.S. District judge Michael H. Schneider.
Co-defendant Hector Nieto, 40, pleaded guilty on November 2, 2010, to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison on August 31, 2011. Nieto was also ordered to forfeit ownership of commercial property in Mt. Pleasant, Texas valued at $93,000, a 2005 GMC, K3500 pickup truck, and $21,473.47 in U.S. Currency.
According to information presented in court, in July 2009, Nieto and Moreno knowingly delivered approximately three kilograms of cocaine to others with instructions to transport the cocaine to Chicago, Illinois for sale and distribution. They were indicted by a federal grand jury on July 14, 2010 and charged with federal drug trafficking crimes.
This case was investigated by the Texas DPS, ICE/HSI, FBI, DEA, IRS, and ATF and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble.