Drug cartels like Gulf Cartel aka Cartel del Golfo flood our communities with drugs that cause death and destruction, but high-ranking CDG leaders like Villarreal are not immune from stiff punishments.
The brother of former Gulf Cartel plaza boss, “Gringo Mike,” has been sentenced to a “significant” amount of time in prison for his involvement in a cocaine distribution conspiracy.
Rio Grande City resident Lee Roy Villarreal, 39, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Houston on Monday.
The sentencing comes following an eight-day trial where a federal jury deliberated for about four hours before returning a guilty verdict in June of last year on conspiracy to distribute approximately 11 pounds of cocaine.
According to the news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas, it was found that Villarreal ran a “large-scale” cocaine distribution network that spanned nearly five years.
During the network’s run, Villarreal and his associates distributed between 330 to over 990 pounds of cocaine from Mexico and Panama to a vast number of cocaine distributors based throughout the United States, which included cities in Texas, Indiana, Georgia and Illinois.
“Drug cartels like Gulf Cartel aka Cartel del Golfo flood our communities with drugs that cause death and destruction, but high-ranking CDG leaders like Villarreal are not immune from stiff punishments,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Alamdar S. Hamdani said in the release. “This prosecution dealt a tough blow to the CDG’s operations.
“Villarreal brought poison to our communities, and collaborative efforts with our partners brought him to justice.”
Villarreal’s brother is Michael Villarreal, or “Gringo Mike,” who was killed in March 2013 by rival Gulf Cartel members.
The jury heard that Villarreal was in charge of running drug trafficking operations on the U.S. side in South Texas on behalf of his brother and the Gulf Cartel during the trial.
“Testimony revealed Villarreal was directly involved in the importation of cocaine from Mexico and Panama,” the release said. “He directed the activities of his workers who imported, stashed and transported cocaine to cities across the United States.”
In addition, Villarreal was in charge of the repatriation of proceeds from the cocaine sales back to “Gringo Mike” and Gulf Cartel members in Mexico.
Another detail revealed was that Villarreal used at least one stash house in Mission to store cocaine and drug proceeds.
At the trial, Villarreal claimed that he was never involved in drug trafficking, had no illegal association with his brother and simply operated a legitimate auto mechanic business but the jury didn’t believe his defense claims, according to the release.
“To date, 12 other individuals have been convicted in relation to the conspiracy,” the release said.
Villarreal will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility which will be determined in the near future.
