South Texas man sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for using US government vehicle to deliver cocaine

MCALLEN, Texas — A local man was sentenced Tuesday to more than 11 years imprisonment following his conviction for attempting to possess with intent to distribute about nine kilograms of cocaine.

The U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson, Southern District of Texas, announced this sentence. 

This investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with the assistance of U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Office of Inspector General, and the McAllen Police Department.

On July 28, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Mario Guadalupe Saenz, 38, of McAllen to 135 months imprisonment for attempting to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.  He was also ordered to serve five years of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence. Saenz’s prison sentence was enhanced because he possessed a dangerous weapon while committing the crime, and because he used Facebook to advertise that he could use a vehicle with U.S. government license plates to bring drugs north of the border fence.

According to court documents, on Oct. 9, 2014, Saenz was observed driving a white Dodge Ram registered to USDA. He drove through an opening in the border fence and retrieved a bag from the brush near the Rio Grande River in Hidalgo County. He then used the U.S. government vehicle to transport the bag to a business parking lot in McAllen where Saenz bragged to an undercover officer that he had waived at U.S. Border Patrol agents during the transport.

Saenz was subsequently arrested as investigators discovered the bag contained 9.39 kilograms (about 21 pounds) of a suspected controlled substance, 1.1 kilograms of which tested positive for the properties of cocaine.

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

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Rees, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted this case.