David Lopez, El Paso Marijuana Trafficking, Texas 2017

A 56-year-old El Paso man has been sentenced to 293 months in federal prison for conspiring to distribute thousands of kilograms of marijuana.

David Lopez, a resident of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced in connection with his operation of a drug transportation business that operated from August 2001 until August 2015. Lopez used commercial tractor trailers to transport marijuana to cities across the United States, including El Paso, Texas, Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Pratt County, Kansas.

Between 2001 and 2015, Lopez and his associates were linked to the seizure of over 3,300 kilograms of marijuana in various locations, including Sierra Blanca, Texas, Abilene, Texas, Alamogordo, New Mexico, and Pratt County, Kansas.

Lopez was also convicted of attempting to hire a confidential source and an undercover officer to transport marijuana for him.

Additionally, in 2010, Lopez was stopped in Clark County, Kansas, where a K-9 alerted to his vehicle, and officers found $130,000 in his suitcase. Lopez denied any knowledge of the cash, despite it being packaged similarly to the $53,000 cash found in his safe after a search of his residence in 2015.

On January 26, 2017, a jury convicted Lopez of one count of conspiracy to possess over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana and one count of possession of over 100 kilograms of marijuana. In addition to his 293-month prison sentence, Lopez was ordered to pay a $50,000 fine and forfeit $2.4 million in U.S. currency, various tractor trailers, personal vehicles, and his residence.

Lopez has been in federal custody since his arrest on June 3, 2016.

According to DEA Special Agent in Charge Will R. Glaspy, this conviction sends a strong message that drug dealing at all levels will not be tolerated, and will make communities safer.

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