Amarillo, Texas — A jury has slammed the door shut on Moises Jimenez, 39, convicting him on multiple felony counts tied to a sprawling drug operation. Jimenez was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater to life in federal prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence follows his August 2017 conviction after a four-day trial that laid bare his role in distributing massive quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine.
Jimenez was found guilty on three counts: distribution and possession with intent to distribute cocaine; distribution and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine; and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Judge Fitzwater handed down 240 months for the cocaine charge and 60 months for the firearm charge—both to run concurrently with the life sentence for the methamphetamine count.
The case turned on evidence seized during a December 2016 raid. On January 20, 2015, the Amarillo Police Department executed a search warrant at Jimenez’s apartment. Inside, they found one kilogram of methamphetamine, nearly 300 grams of cocaine, a Lorcin .25 caliber pistol, approximately $22,000 in cash, and a stash of drug paraphernalia used to package and distribute narcotics.
Jimenez didn’t stay silent. During post-arrest interviews, he admitted to Amarillo detectives that he possessed the drugs and the firearm. More damning: he confessed to delivering 50 pounds of methamphetamine less than a week before the raid. That admission, combined with seized text messages from his cell phones, painted a clear picture of a high-level distributor embedded in the regional drug trade.
Further proof came from behind bars. Recorded jailhouse phone calls revealed Jimenez attempting to coordinate activity related to his drug operations while already in custody. The recordings, played for the jury, helped cement the government’s case that Jimenez remained a threat and was deeply entrenched in trafficking networks.
The investigation was led by the Amarillo Police Department, with critical support from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Russell Lorfing, Sean Long, and Sean Taylor prosecuted the case for the Northern District of Texas, where U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox confirmed the sentencing. Jimenez has remained in federal custody since his arrest in December 2016, and now will never see freedom again.
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Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Weapons|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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