“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat
An associate with the Sinaloa Cartel has been sentenced to more than 11 years in federal prison.
Roberto Velaquez Martinez, 39, of Santiago Papasquiaro, Mexico, conspired with others to import and distribute the cocaine into the United States on behalf of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico.
U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow imposed the 136-month prison sentence Tuesday.
Velazquez Martinez traveled to Chicago in the fall of 2018, according to federal authorities.
He arranged a multi-kilogram cocaine shipment with Columbian drug traffickers who were actually U.S. law enforcement agents undercover.
Velazquez Martinez fled the U.S. after a failed cocaine deal in Stickney on Dec. 4, 2018. He was arrested in 2019 in Peru and extradited to the U.S. in 2020.
Velazquez Martinez pleaded guilty earlier this year to a drug conspiracy charge.
