Four men sentenced in McAllen for moving drugs via U.S. post
McALLEN — Four undocumented immigrants were sentenced late Monday to do prison time after being convicted of using the U.S. postal system to distribute drugs, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Last year, all four men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana through the U.S. Postal Service, the release states. Leopoldo Perales-Rodriguez, Juan Carlos Hernandez, Victor Hugo Mares and Margarito Gallardo were convicted of mailing drugs from various locations through the Rio Grande Valley since May 2008. They were each arrested in May 2009.
Perales-Rodriguez, 42, Hernandez, 22, and Mares, 27, repeatedly mailed packages out of the Valley for at least a year, according to the news release. Gallardo, 46, mailed parcels and cashed payments for the drugs in the form of money orders that he received through the Postal Service.
All four were illegally living in Mission, the release states. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service watched the group for about a year and estimates they shipped more than 2,200 pounds of marijuana to locations throughout the nation including Connecticut, New York and Florida.
U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa sentenced the group Monday, according to the news release. Perales-Rodriguez was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. Hernandez was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Mares and Gallardo were each given 30-month sentences, to be followed by three years of supervision.
