TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - Officials say a 39-year-old leader of a drug cartel has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for selling methamphetamine in the Tacoma area.
U.S. Attorney Brian T. Moran says Jesus Enrique Palomera was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty in November 2017 to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and being an alien with a firearm.
Moran says Palomera rang the drug ring through fear and also sold guns, arranging the sale of nine guns in one day to an undercover agent.
Court records say he then fled to Mexico and continued to run his drug operation, directing the transport of over 50 kilos of meth in 2014 and 2015 from Mexico to Washington.
Court documents say investigators believe Palomera also directed the beating and killing of a co-conspirator that went missing and is presumed dead after some drugs were seized by authorities.
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