Houston Man, Jesse R. Gonzales, Pleads Guilty To Transporting Methamphetamine And Heroin To New Orleans By "mega Bus"

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that JESSE R. GONZALES, age 24, of Houston, Texas, pled guilty today to one count of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.

According to court documents, Louisiana State Police troopers arrested GONZALES on November 15, 2013, while performing a narcotics interdiction detail of a “Mega Bus” travelling from Houston to New Orleans.  Troopers approached GONZALES after he exited the Mega Bus at the stop near Bienville and N. Peters Streets in New Orleans.  After GONZALES appeared evasive and nervous, the troopers asked for his consent to search his only bag, a red backpack.  A Louisiana State Police K-9 sniffed the outside of the backpack and alerted to the presence of narcotics.  Troopers subsequently searched the backpack and found approximately 417 grams of methamphetamine and approximately 25 grams of heroin.

GONZALES faces a maximum sentence of 20 years of imprisonment, a $1,000,000.00 fine, and at least three years of supervised release.  U.S. District Judge Stanwood R. Duval, Jr. has scheduled sentencing for January 29, 2015.

U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the Louisiana State Police in investigating this matter and thanked the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office for their assistance.  Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Payne is in charge of the prosecution.