A 43-year-old man, Juan Pablo Ramirez of Mission, Texas, has been sentenced to federal prison for his involvement in trafficking cocaine, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.

Ramirez's conviction came after a one-day trial on July 12, where a federal jury found him guilty of possession with the intent to distribute 5000 grams of cocaine.

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos presided over the case and ordered Ramirez to serve 108 months in federal prison. Following his prison term, he will also face four years of supervised release. The court took into consideration Ramirez's criminal history, which included a previous conviction for distributing meth. The judge also cited the significant quantity of drugs involved in the recent offense and Ramirez's prior federal conviction for drug trafficking when issuing the sentence.

The incident leading to Ramirez's conviction occurred on January 19 when he drove his truck to the Falfurrias Border Patrol (BP) checkpoint. During the initial inspection, Ramirez consented to a z-portal examination of his truck. The examination revealed anomalies in his truck's dashboard, which turned out to be five packages of cocaine.

The street value of the seized cocaine was estimated to be approximately $100,000.

Juan Pablo Ramirez will remain in custody until he is transferred to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, the location of which will be determined in the near future.

The investigation leading to Ramirez's conviction was a collaborative effort involving multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Border Patrol, Drug Enforcement Administration, Jim Wells Police Department, and Corpus Christi Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Martin, John Lamont, and John Marck.