Ramon Antonio Yanez-Gonzalez, Methamphetamine Distribution, Texas 2018

DEL RIO, Texas – A Guadalajara, Mexico man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison for distributing approximately 21 kilograms of methamphetamine and money laundering.

Ramon Antonio Yanez-Gonzalez, 40, who also goes by the alias “Junior,” was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses on March 31, 2023.

Yanez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine on July 31, 2018. He admitted to conspiring with others to smuggle methamphetamine into the Eagle Pass area from Mexico and distribute it to San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas, from January 2011 to April 2015.

Additionally, Yanez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments that were transferred from the Northern District of Texas on December 12, 2019. He admitted to laundering proceeds from drug sales in December 2012.

During the investigation, authorities seized approximately 17 kilograms of methamphetamine attributable to Yanez-Gonzalez and his organization.

U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff of the Western District of Texas, Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah of the Northern District of Texas, and Special Agent in Charge Daniel C. Comeaux of the DEA’s Houston Field Office made the announcement.

Yanez-Gonzalez has remained in federal custody since his arrest on August 28, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The DEA, along with the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Border Patrol, Val Verde County Sheriff’s Office, Dallas Police Department, and Garland Police Department, conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation named “Operation Guatemala Freeze.”

The OCDETF program identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sydni Connell, Sarah Spears, and Amy Hail prosecuted this case with assistance from Northern District of Texas Assistant U.S. Attorney George Leal.

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