United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

JOHNSON COUNTY MAN SENTENCED TO NEARLY 22 YEARS
IN FEDERAL PRISON, WITHOUT PAROLE, FOR POSSESSING A FIREARM IN FURTHERANCE OF METHAMPHETAMINE TRAFFICKING CONSPIRACY

DALLAS - U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that Alvarado, Texas, resident, Juan Antonio Iruegas, Jr., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 262 months in prison without the possibility of parole. Iruegas, 41, pled guilty in March to one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

In October 2006, Iruegas was implicated in a multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy when an individual was arrested in St. Louis County, Missouri, with a large amount of methamphetamine. That person informed law enforcement officers that the source of the drug supply was “Nuno” Iruegas, who was later identified as Juan Antonio Iruegas, Jr. During the investigation of Iruegas, law enforcement officers executed a federal search warrant at his home in Alvarado, where they located and seized four firearms, including an illegal “sawed-off” rifle, and numerous rounds of ammunition. The officers also found a number of items consistent with the distribution of methamphetamine, including a digital scale, packaging material, rubber bands, drug ledgers, surveillance cameras, and a monitor with live feeds to five separate screens showing the incoming road to his residence, front porch, garage, backyard, and common area.

Iruegas was sentenced as a “career offender,” because he has been convicted of multiple felonies, including murder and burglary of a habitation. Iruegas was on state parole when arrested, and has admitted to being a member of the Texas Syndicate, a violent prison gang.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the excellent collaborative efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Fort Worth Field Office, Burleson Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Stop the Offender Program’s Narcotics Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan A. Konig.

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