Juan Emilio Gomez-Padilla, Meth Trafficking, Missouri 2021

Mexican National Sentenced for Meth Trafficking in Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — More than 88 pounds of methamphetamine was found in the trunk of a car in which Juan Emilio Gomez-Padilla was traveling on Interstate 70.

Gomez-Padilla, 32, who was residing in Chicago, Illinois, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on Jan. 5, 2024. He was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on Thursday, May 30, to 11 years and six months in federal prison without parole.

The court also ordered Gomez-Padilla to forfeit to the government $5,505 that was seized by law enforcement. Gomez-Padilla admitted that he was a passenger in a car that was carrying more than 88 pounds of methamphetamine in the trunk when it was stopped by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in Saline County, Mo., on April 5, 2021.

Gomez-Padilla is the third and final defendant to be sentenced in this case. Co-defendants Jose Alfredo Renteria-Rojas, 35, and his brother, Gustavo Renteria-Rojas, 40, who are both citizens of Mexico residing in Chicago, have each been sentenced to 11 years and six months in federal prison without parole.

Gustavo Renteria-Rojas was driving the white 2011 Volkswagen Jetta on eastbound Interstate 70 when it was stopped by a state trooper in Saline County. The trooper found four white cardboard boxes in the trunk, which contained 36 packages of methamphetamine that weighed a total of 88.7 pounds.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

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