South Texas man sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for trafficking nearly a half-ton of marijuana

MCALLEN, Texas — A south Texas man was sentenced Tuesday to 12 years in federal prison following his convictions for possessing with intent to distribute about 434 kilograms of marijuana.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas.  This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Border Patrol.

Jaime Cisneros, 50, of Roma, Texas, pleaded guilty Feb. 2 to possessing with intent to distribute about 434 kilograms (957 pounds) of marijuana.

On June 9, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo handed Cisneros a 155-month sentence to be immediately followed by four years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court considered Cisneros’s 2003 drug trafficking conviction in Corpus Christi, Texas, and two other instances in which Cisneros was involved with trafficking large quantities of marijuana. Judge Marmolejo further increased Cisneros’s sentence by finding he was a manager or supervisor of the extensive drug trafficking organization.

On March 19, 2014, Cisneros directed co-conspirators to conceal 43 bundles of marijuana in a brushy area in Fronton, Texas. Law enforcement approached the area and seized 43 bundles of marijuana weighing about 434 kilograms.

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

U.S. Attorney Kristen Rees, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.