Final defendant gets life for meth distribution

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A 64-year-old Brownsville resident has been ordered to federal prison after admitting to running a drug distribution ring over a two-year period, announced U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick.

Roberto Rosales Jr. pleaded guilty Feb. 21, 2019.  

Today, U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. ordered Rosales to serve the rest of his life in prison. At the hearing, the court noted his prior lengthy criminal history and that his is still involved in narcotics distribution at his age. Judge Rodriguez further stated that even after serving prior prison sentences, he reoffends and continues to sell narcotics as soon as he is released. He further noted Rosales is a danger to society, has large quantity Narcotics sales which indicates dangerous sources in Mexico and sees no chance of rehabilitation.

The court previously sentenced co-defendants Sarahi Hernandez, 22, and Mariella Ramirez, 25, both of Brownsville, to 87 and 60 months, respectively. They had admitted to possession and assisting in the sale of multiple narcotics and mailing them throughout the United States and Virgin Islands over a two-year-period.

At the time of his plea, Rosales admitted that for more than two years he would coordinate with individuals in Mexico to pick up methamphetamine smuggled through port of entries into the United States.

He ran the conspiracy from his residence in Brownsville, which served as a staging area for shipping methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and marijuana via FedEx, United Parcel Service (UPS) and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Once the narcotics were at his house, he would package and produce labels in order to ship the methamphetamine to co-conspirators throughout the country.

Rosales would then drop off the parcels at the U.S. Post Office or UPS store. He utilized the unknowing services of UPS and USPS to ship narcotics-laden packages to multiple destinations in the U.S. and Virgin Islands.

Rosales would also sell methamphetamine and other narcotics in person to individuals he trusted which were taken to locations throughout the Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi for street distribution. During the course of the conspiracy, Rosales recruited multiple young women whom he paid with cash and narcotics and allowed them to socialize at his house for assisting in his distribution scheme.

During the investigation, authorities executed a search warrant at his residence, discovered evidence of a complex shipping organization and seized more than four kilograms of methamphetamine, one kilogram of heroin and 30 kilograms of marijuana as well as multiple different pills including Xanax and Ecstasy.

Present at his house at that time was Hernandez, who was in charge of the house and in possession of the narcotics.

Rosales has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin S. Dinsdale prosecuted the case.