Texas man sentenced to 15 years for importing methamphetamine

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — A Houston man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison following his conviction for trafficking nearly five kilograms of methamphetamine.

This sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Derrick Hargrove, 35, from Houston, was sentenced to 180 months imprisonment for trafficking 4.99 kilograms of methamphetamine. His sentence will be followed by five years of supervised release.

According to court documents, Hargrove crossed from Mexico into the United States on Oct. 9, 2014, via Brownsville’s Gateway Port of Entry pedestrian lane with a suitcase. Upon inspection, a CBP officer felt something in the suitcase, x-rayed it and observed two packages inside. A search revealed the pure crystal methamphetamine. 

Hargrove initially claimed ownership of the suitcase, but later claimed a stranger in Mexico gave it to him on the streets of Mexico. He claimed the stranger asked him to deliver the suitcase to a person he knew who was helping Hargrove get a liquor license for a nightclub he was allegedly opening in Matamoros.

Hargrove had been living in Matamoros after losing his job.

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