A Brownsville man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison after a federal jury found him guilty earlier this year of smuggling methamphetamine into the United States.
Felix Lerma appeared Thursday before U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr., who sentenced him to 150 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, federal court documents reflect.
A federal jury In June found Lerma guilty of smuggling more than 150 pounds of methamphetamine from Mexico to the U.S.
According to a federal criminal complaint, on June 17, 2020, Lerma tried to make entry into the U.S. from Mexico via the B&M Bridge in Matamoros in a Chevrolet Tahoe. Lerma said the SUV belonged to him and denied he was transporting any illegal narcotics.
Lerma was referred to a secondary inspection area where a U.S. Customs and Border Protection canine alerted officers to one wheel of the vehicle, the federal complaint stated, also referencing an X-ray that revealed anomalies in all four tires.
A further inspection of the SUV led to the discovery of 24 bundles weighing 68.64 kilograms or 151 pounds of a white substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the federal criminal complaint. The 24 bundles were found in the tires which each tire containing six bundles.
A federal grand jury on June 30, 2020 indicted Lerma on one count of knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute a quantity of more than fifty grams of methamphetamine, one count of knowingly and intentionally possessing with intent to distribute about 151.3 pounds of methamphetamine, one count of knowingly and intentionally conspiring and agreeing with person known and unknown to the grand jurors to import a controlled substance in the United States from Mexico, quantity of more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, and one count of knowingly and intentionally importing a controlled substance into the U.S. from Mexico of about 68.64 kilograms or 151.3 pounds of methamphetamine.
Lerma was remanded to the custody of U.S. Marshals pending his transportation to a federal prison.
