An Amarillo man has been sentenced to 35 years and five months in federal prison for gun and drug crimes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah.
Jeffrey Rene Lopez, 52, was convicted in April of two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes, and one count of felon in possession of firearms.
A federal jury in Amarillo convicted Lopez after a month-long investigation revealed that he was dealing meth out of two residences in Amarillo.
According to evidence presented at trial, Lopez was recorded by law enforcement as he sold a $1,000, two-ounce meth buy to a confidential informant on October 19, 2020.
The informant then watched as Lopez pulled out a large bag of crystal meth and scooped about an ounce into smaller plastic baggies. When the informant said the substance looked “shaky” (low quality), Lopez promised to get the second ounce from another location.
Lopez retrieved additional meth from his brother’s residence and handed it off to the informant at a local laundromat. About a month later, the informant informed law enforcement that Lopez was traveling back from California with a load of methamphetamine.
DEA agents spotted Lopez on Interstate Highway 40 near Amarillo, and called in Texas DPS troopers to place him under arrest pursuant to a warrant. When law enforcement searched his vehicle, they found two bundles of meth hidden inside a spare tire in the trunk.
Agents also searched two residences in Amarillo, where they found a total of nine guns: seven pistols, an AR-15 style rifle, and a .22 rifle with an extended magazine. Lopez’s prior felony convictions prohibited him from possessing firearms, including buying, borrowing, carrying, storing, or shooting.
In an interview a short while later, Lopez confessed to possession of both the guns and the drugs, stating that he got the meth from a source in California who had previously “ripped him off.”
Amarillo is safer today because Lopez is behind bars, said Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah. “And I expect he will spend his decades in prison regretting his choices.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Dallas Field Division, Amarillo Resident Office conducted the investigation with assistance from the Amarillo Police Department, the Randall County Sheriff’s Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives’ Dallas Field Division.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey Haag and Meredith Pinkham prosecuted the case with the help of Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Marie Bell.
Related Federal Cases
- Brown, Major Drug Trafficking, Texas 2024 · Pennsylvania
- Martez Alando Gurley, Counterfeit Prescription Drug Trafficking, CA · Pennsylvania
- Julio Ernesto Lopez-Menendez, Meth & Gun Trafficking, California 2024 · California
- Texas Drug Kingpin Serrano Pleads Guilty to Meth & Gun Charges · Virginia
- Jacob Trujillo, Spice Trafficking, Texas 2022 · Texas
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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