KC Reporter

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mexican national has been sentenced in federal court after more than 88 pounds of methamphetamine was found in the trunk of a car in which he was traveling on Interstate 70.

Juan Emilio Gomez-Padilla, 32, who was residing in Chicago, Illinois, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips on Thursday, May 30, to 11 years and six months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Gomez-Padilla to forfeit $5,505 that was seized by law enforcement.

On Jan. 5, 2024, Gomez-Padilla pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. He admitted that he was a passenger in a car carrying more than 88 pounds of methamphetamine when it was stopped by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper in Saline County, Mo., on April 5, 2021.

Gomez-Padilla is the third and final defendant to be sentenced in this case. Co-defendants Jose Alfredo Renteria-Rojas, 35, and his brother Gustavo Renteria-Rojas, 40—both citizens of Mexico residing in Chicago—have each been sentenced to 11 years and six months in federal prison without parole. They pleaded guilty to their roles in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and illegally possessing a firearm.

All three defendants were traveling eastbound on Interstate 70 in a white 2011 Volkswagen Jetta driven by Gustavo Renteria-Rojas when they were stopped by a state trooper. As Jose Renteria-Rojas exited the vehicle, the trooper observed a loaded Smith & Wesson .380-caliber handgun with an extra magazine in the door pocket. The trooper found four white cardboard boxes containing 36 packages of methamphetamine weighing a total of 88.7 pounds and $5,505 cash inside the car.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Q. McCarther and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

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