KC Reporter

Two men have been sentenced in a federal court for transporting methamphetamine from Dallas, Texas, to the Joplin, Missouri area. Juan Alvarado-Alvarado, 45, a Mexican national, received a sentence of 192 months in federal prison without parole. This will be followed by five years of supervised release. Alvarado-Alvarado pleaded guilty on September 23, 2024. He has two prior felony convictions for illegal reentry into the United States after removal.

Jesus Sanchez, 34, from Joplin, Missouri, was sentenced to 132 months in federal prison without parole and will also have five years of supervised release following his prison term. Sanchez entered his guilty plea on November 21, 2024.

The charges stemmed from an indictment issued on June 6, 2022. Both men were charged with possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute more than 500 grams.

On May 25, 2022, deputies from the Newton County Sheriff's Office in Missouri seized approximately eight kilograms of methamphetamine during a traffic stop involving Alvarado-Alvarado and Sanchez. In a subsequent interview that day, Sanchez admitted that he and Alvarado-Alvarado traveled to Dallas to purchase the drugs.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine I. Schlegl prosecuted the case which was investigated by multiple agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Ozark Drug Enforcement Team, and the Newton County Sheriff's Office.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States through a coordinated multi-agency approach.

For further information about OCDETF programs: https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF