Drug Trafficker Is Sentenced To More Than Seven Years In Prison

 CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Today, U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney sentenced Jose Flores Romero, 29, of Mexico, to 87 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on drug trafficking charges, announced Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

According to filed court documents and today’s sentencing hearing, on February 21, 2020, law enforcement in Kansas seized 25 kilograms of cocaine from two individuals operating as drug couriers, who were traveling from California to Charlotte. According to court records, the couriers informed law enforcement that they had made multiple drug deliveries from California to Charlotte. Over the course of the investigation, law enforcement identified Romero as one of the intended recipients of the seized cocaine in Charlotte, and determined that Romero was involved in numerous previous drug deliveries, including a drug delivery worth over $800,000.  On July 23, 2020, Romero pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and attempt to possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine.

Romero is currently in federal custody.  Upon designation of a federal facility he will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons. The defendant will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon the completion of his federal sentence.

In making today’s announcement U.S. Attorney Murray thanked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kansas Highway Patrol for their investigation of this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor G. Stout, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.   

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.