A magistrate judge granted bond for Rene Fuentes Jr., the son of Starr County Sheriff Rene Fuentes, records show.
On Monday, during an arraignment and detention hearing, Fuentes pleaded not guilty to drug smuggling charges, including conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, and distribution of a controlled substance, records show.
The charges stem from an incident in April 2019 in which, as the government alleges, Fuentes and two others, Jaime Rios, and Maritza Treviño, conspired to move more than 20 kilos of cocaine, the indictment states.
During the aforementioned hearing, the government stated it did not oppose a bond for Fuentes with the set recommendations from pretrial services.
The court set Fuentes’ bond at $75,000, with a $5,000 cash deposit, records show.
Rios, who was arrested and charged in connection with the above charges in April 2021, and has been free on a $75,000 bond since April 14, 2021, records show.
Likewise for Treviño, who remains free on a $100,000 bond, records show.
Fuentes was convicted of a firearms charge in December 2010, records show.
The charge, penalties for firearms, and several others including making false statements, was related to a Jan. 27, 2006 incident, and others that year in which Fuentes aided in a straw purchase of a firearm, the indictment shows.
According to the indictment from that case, Fuentes made false statements on a federal firearms form in order to purchase a Bushmaster rifle and several other firearms in varying instances.
Eventually, Fuentes struck a plea deal with the government and pleaded guilty to one of the seven charges he was facing — records show.
He served his 23-month prison term, including three years of supervised release, records show.
If convicted in the current case, Fuentes and his co-defendants face up to 10 years in federal prison.
