MEXICO CITY: Two Mexican nationals arrested last year in connection with smuggling and possession of marijuana were sentenced to nearly three years in prison.
Juan Carlos Venancio-Martinez, 25, and Jose Miguel Rodriguez-Sandoval, both of Mexico, were sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa to 46 months in federal prison and five years supervised probation after they are released.
The sentencing comes more than a year after the two were arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers with more than 675 pounds of marijuana in their vehicle, according to court records.
A DPS trooper patrolling on the morning of June 20, 2014, westbound on Farm-to-Market 490 in Starr County west of the Hidalgo/Starr County line, encountered an adult male lying face down behind a Dodge pickup truck with two other males inside later identified as Rodriguez-Sandoval and Venancio-Martinez, according to the criminal complaints.
Prosecutors said the trooper, who believed the man had just been involved in an auto-pedestrian crash, followed the two after they drove away eastbound on FM 490.
The trooper then observed Rodriguez-Sandoval and Venancio-Martinez pull over, abandon the pickup truck and flee on foot northbound into the thick brush, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors said two Mexican nationals were arrested after a perimeter was set up in the area.
During a search of the Dodge, investigators discovered a black handgun, later confirmed to be a semi-automatic pistol, in the driver’s side area and several brown bundles of marijuana in the passenger and cargo area of the pickup truck, according to court records. Another handgun was found in the possession of Rodriguez-Sandoval.
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