Valley men convicted of selling crack that killed man

Four men from the Rio Grande Valley were convicted of drug trafficking and selling drugs that resulted in a death following a transaction, according to the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas.

McAllen residents Gabriel Ortiz, 31, Francisco Ortiz, 53, and Adbento Guerrero, 62, as well as Edinburg resident Alonzo Rolando Garza, 42, have all previously pleaded guilty.

Gabriel Ortiz was sentenced to 12 years in prison while Francisco Ortiz was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to a USAO statement.

Guerrero and Garza had already been sentenced to more than two years and 10 years in prison, respectively.

The quartet will also serve five years of supervised release following their convictions.

“Gabriel Ortiz and his co-conspirators, with their reckless and criminal behavior, directly caused the death of a human being,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said in the release. “This case demonstrates the dangers of local drug trafficking and drug use. »

An investigation revealed that the four men were trafficking cocaine in the McAllen and Edinburgh areas between 2019 and 2020. The release states that the co-conspirators would buy and sell multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine and smaller quantities of cocaine base, also known as “crack”. »

According to the release, Gabriel Ortiz sold approximately three grams of cocaine base to a 53-year-old man who died after using the narcotic in November 2020.

In July 2019, Edinburgh police began receiving information related to Gabriel Ortiz's drug trafficking activities from a “reliable confidential source,” according to a criminal complaint.

The source said Gabriel Ortiz would sell both powder cocaine and crack cocaine.

On October 21, 2019, Edinburgh detectives developed a plan with the source to conduct a controlled purchase of crack cocaine.

The source made a recorded call with Ortiz where they arranged the transaction. The source was under the surveillance and supervision of detectives when a transaction involving an undisclosed quantity of crack cocaine was made.

The crack was tested and labeled as evidence.

On September 11, 2020, detectives made another controlled purchase of crack cocaine using the same process as before and re-tagging the narcotics as evidence.

Between October 2019 and September 2020, 42.3 grams of crack cocaine were sold between Gabriel Ortiz and the Confidential Course, according to the complaint.

Ultimately, law enforcement estimated the combined street value of the narcotics at approximately $260,000.

Law enforcement also seized $294,520 in cash and assets in connection with the case, according to the release.