HOUSTON – A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to federal prison following his conviction for conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute nearly 4,000 grams of drugs, announced U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Jorge Delgado-Santacruz pleaded guilty Nov. 29, 2022.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal has now ordered Delgado-Santacruz to serve 180 months in prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard additional testimony about the impact meth and heroin has had on the community at large and noted the sentence was appropriate to deter this kind of activity.
The investigation began in November 2020 when authorities learned Delgado-Santacruz was trafficking both meth and heroin in the Houston area.
Law enforcement set up numerous controlled drug buys. Delgado-Santacruz would negotiate the sale price of the substances and then directed others to deliver the narcotics.
Delgado-Santacruz was ultimately held accountable for the distribution of 892 grams of meth and 3,059.357 grams of heroin from Dec. 9, 2020, to Jan. 18, 2022. The total street value of all the drugs attributable to him is estimated at $375,000.
Delgado-Santacruz 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 and Houston Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart A. Burns prosecuted the case.