A 26-year-old Easley man that federal agents say was plugged into a Sinaloa cartel pipeline pouring meth into the Carolinas has been ordered to spend 151 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
Prosecutors say Nicolas Yarcil Uribe-Tamayo admitted he was a local distributor for a Mexico-based drug trafficking organization that moved kilogram quantities of methamphetamine into North Carolina. His sentence closes a federal probe that kicked off in 2023 and focused on bulk shipments headed into the Charlotte area.
Traffic stop at Charlotte restaurant turned into a kilo bust
According to federal court filings, investigators had Uribe-Tamayo under surveillance in 2023 when they watched another member of the group hand him a kilogram of meth. Agents then tailed him into Charlotte, where he pulled into a restaurant on West Sugar Creek Road.
Officers reported smelling marijuana coming from his vehicle, which gave them cause to search. Court records say they found the kilogram of meth on the rear floorboard, along with an AR-15-style rifle, a loaded high-capacity magazine holding 32 rounds and digital scales. Those details are outlined in court documents and reporting by WCNC.
Plea deal leads to 151-month federal sentence
Uribe-Tamayo pleaded guilty on November 7, 2024 to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine, according to federal prosecutors. A judge later handed down a 151-month prison term and five years of supervised release…