A former lawyer who worked for nearly three decades with the attorney general of Mexico was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for trying to smuggle a little more than 74 pounds of cocaine earlier this year.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced Rogelio Alberto Velasco’s sentence in a news release Thursday afternoon.
Drug Enforcement Administration special agents in McAllen, with the assistance of the Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office, arrested Velasco on Jan. 28 during an undercover operation.
The day prior, Velasco had provided a little more than 2 pounds of cocaine to undercover authorities as a sample of the drugs that he had available for purchase, according to the release.
That deal started in the parking lot of a Mission AutoZone, according to a criminal complaint, which said agents followed two vehicles — a gray pickup truck and a gray Chrysler sedan — to a nearby apartment on North Glasscock Road.
“The driver of the gray pickup truck exited the vehicle, approached the front driver side of the gray Chrysler sedan, and a bag believed to contain narcotics was exchanged,” the complaint stated. “Agents followed the gray Chrysler sedan from the exchange and observed as it parked at a residence located off North Glasscock Road in Mission, Texas.”
The undercovers met with Velasco again the next day and bought nearly 5 pounds of cocaine, according to the release.
The complaint against Velasco said the undercover agents once again spotted the gray Chrysler sedan parked at the same residence and watched as the driver left the home at approximately 2:40 p.m. on Jan. 28, which is when a deputy with the Hidalgo County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office conducted a traffic stop on Velasco. He gave the deputy consent to search his vehicle.
That’s when the deputy found two brick packages of cocaine.
“As the Deputy began to place Velasco in custody, Velasco then attempted to flee on foot, but was apprehended shortly after,” the complaint stated.
Federal agents later executed a search warrant at Velasco’s residence, where they found 29 bricks of cocaine, according to the complaint.
The news release said the more than 74 pounds of cocaine is valued at $800,000, and noted that a search of his phone revealed he was in direct communication with the cocaine supplier.
During Velasco’s sentencing, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane heard evidence on how Velasco received his law degree in 1995.
“In handing down the sentence, the court noted that Velasco was educated and knew the consequences of his actions yet still engaged in drug trafficking,” the release stated.
Velasco, who pleaded guilty on June 3 to selling, distributing and/or dispensing a controlled substance reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors recommended dismissal of an additional count of this charge as well as a count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, which Crane granted.
Velasco received a total of five years and eight months in federal prison and is expected to be deported once he finishes his prison term, according to the release.
