A 31-year-old Texan caught with more than $650,000 worth of heroin and methamphetamine hidden in car batteries more than two years ago received a stiff prison sentence on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez sentenced Gerardo Jimenez to 15 years and 6 months in prison on a charge of selling, dispensing or distributing a controlled substance.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection first encountered Jimenez at 3:53 p.m. on Nov. 3, 2020 in a white Ford F-250 at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge.
Jimenez claimed that he drove to Reynosa, Mexico to see a dentist, went to a pharmacy to pick up medication and then drove to the bridge to enter back into the United States, according to a criminal complaint.
However, a search of his truck revealed that he had a little more than nine pounds of heroin and more than four pounds of methamphetamine hidden inside the batteries in his truck.
He told investigators that he had bought the truck at the flea market in Alamo and had never performed any maintenance on the vehicle.
In a news release issued Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas said Alvarez, the judge, heard additional evidence regarding his smuggling attempts, but did not provide details about it. “In handing down the sentence, the court noted that drug transportation is a serious offense and that Jimenez willingly participated as a transporter on behalf of the cartel,” the release stated.
That document said the methamphetamine was 100% pure and that the drugs had an estimated street value of $654,000.
