Carlos Jesus Carrasco, 25, of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., for his methamphetamine trafficking conviction. Carlos Carrasco was sentenced to 87 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Carlos Carrasco and his co-defendant and cousin, Bernabe Carrasco, 36, also of El Paso, were arrested on Dec. 20, 2013, and charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. According to court filings, the two men were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Border Patrol traffic checkpoint on U.S. Highway 54 near Alamogordo, N.M., after the agents discovered that they were concealing packages of methamphetamine on their bodies during a routine immigration check of passengers. The two men subsequently were indicted on the same two charges.
On April 9, 2015, Carlos Carrasco and Bernabe Carrasco both pled guilty to informations charging them with conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Both men admitted to possessing 2.07 kilograms of methamphetamine on Dec. 20, 2013, which they intended to distribute. Carlos Carrasco and Bernabe Carrasco admitted boarding a bus in El Paso with packages containing methamphetamine strapped to their bodies which they intended to deliver to Amarillo, Texas, in exchange for $1,200.00.
Bernabe Carrasco was sentenced on April 9, 2015, to 63 months in prison followed by four years of supervised release.
This case was investigated by the Las Cruces office of the DEA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with assistance from the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gould of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office.
Information from Department of Justice