Investigators Intercepted Shipment to KC of Eight Kilos of
Cocaine
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A San Elizario, Texas, man has pleaded
guilty in federal court to his role in a conspiracy to distribute large
quantities of cocaine in the metropolitan area.
Armando Rosales Jr., 30, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief
District Judge Beth Phillips on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to participating in the
drug-trafficking conspiracy that lasted from October 2013 to Nov. 15, 2018.
By pleading guilty, Rosales admitted that he was a courier
for a drug-trafficking organization. Investigators had received information
that a shipment of cocaine was being delivered to the Kansas City, Missouri,
metropolitan area. On Dec. 18, 2017, a DEA investigator stopped the Ford F-150
pickup Rosales was driving near Sweetwater, Texas. The investigator searched
Rosales’s vehicle and found eight packages completely wrapped in electrical
tape in the rear seat back of the truck. The packages contained a total of
approximately eight kilograms of powder cocaine. Rosales admitted he was transporting
the cocaine to the Kansas City metropolitan area.
According to the plea agreement, the drug-trafficking
organization was purchasing cocaine for approximately $27,000 to $27,500 per
kilogram. Accordingly, the value of the eight kilograms that Rosales
transported was at least $216,000.
Co-defendant Miguel Armendariz-Rascon, 31, a citizen of
Mexico residing in Olathe, Kansas, has also pleaded guilty to his role in the
conspiracy. Armendariz-Rascon admitted that he aided a co-conspirator in
providing $491,211 in illicit drug proceeds – which was seized by law
enforcement – to another co-conspirator. Armendariz-Rascon admitted the money
represented the proceeds of the distribution of more than 17 kilograms of
cocaine.
Under federal statutes, Rosales and Armendariz-Rascon are
each subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison
without parole, up to a sentence of 40 years in federal prison without parole.
The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here
for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendants will be
determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other
statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion
of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney
Trey Alford and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Smith. It was
investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, IRS-Criminal
Investigation and the Lee’s Summit, Mo., Police Department.
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