Carlos Mercado, Methamphetamine Deal, Texas 2014

LAREDO, Texas - A Laredo resident has been sentenced to 160 months in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine deal.

Carlos Mercado, 39, was convicted of transportation with intent to distribute 2.7 kilograms of methamphetamine, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson.

A federal jury convicted Mercado on April 8, 2014, following a two-day trial. Senior U.S. District Judge George Kazen handed down the sentence, followed by a five-year-term of supervised release.

During the trial, the jury heard testimony that on April 11, 2012, Mercado left his South Laredo home and traveled to a Wal-Mart parking lot located on 2320 Bob Bullock Loop at Clark Boulevard, where he met with an undercover agent to arrange for the transportation of 2.7 kilograms of methamphetamine to Dallas.

Mercado handed the undercover agent a child's backpack containing the methamphetamine, then followed him to a car wash where the agent concealed the drugs in a hidden compartment. Mercado followed the undercover agent up Interstate Highway 35 until making a U-turn one mile before the IH-35 Checkpoint.

Mercado's defense team argued that the lengthy prison sentence would have a devastating impact on his family. However, Judge Kazen said that the people who suffer the most from these lengthy prison sentences are the defendants' families.

Mercado will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher S. Coker prosecuted the case.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/methamphetamine-deals-lands-laredoan-federal-prison