A Mission man was sentenced early last week for his role in a scheme to transport cocaine to Houston, records show.
Jorge Luis Perez-Cortez was sentenced to a more than six-year prison sentence related to a May 2020 arrest in Edinburg, according to the complaint against the man.
Perez-Cortez, 65, who did not have legal status to remain in the country, was found with more than 2 kilos of cocaine on May 22, 2020, in his possession.
On that day, Perez-Cortez and his son picked up 2 kilograms of cocaine and traveled to a McDonald’s in Elsa. There the two men met with a third person, and left together to a residence in Edcouch.
Eventually, the men returned to the parking lot from where they had departed.
During this meet, federal agents approached the two men.
“Agents maintained constant visual surveillance of all three individuals and made contact with the third (person) in the Ford Escape, recovering two packages wrapped in black tape, containing 2.23 kilograms of (cocaine),” the document stated.
Perez-Cortez admitted he was the one responsible for coordinating the drug transaction, while his son was just his means of transportation and intended for the cocaine to be delivered to Houston.
According to court documents, federal agents had been watching Perez-Cortez as part of an investigation into drug trafficking. The investigation revealed several incriminating messages on Perez-Cortez’s cellphone linking him to a drug trafficking ring.
During the sentencing hearing, the court admonished Perez-Cortez for returning to the country soon after his most recent deportation, and for involving his son, Jorge de Jesus Perez, in cocaine trafficking.
Jorge de Jesus Perez, 31, also of Mission, was convicted in connection with the scheme and previously sentenced to 24 months, to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release, court records show. He admitted to driving his father to their residence where the cocaine was located and then driving the third person’s car back to the meet-up location.
The investigation revealed several incriminating messages on Perez-Cortez’s cell phone linking him to a drug trafficking ring.
Perez-Cortez will likely be deported upon completion of his prison term.
