CHICAGO — A federal judge this week sentenced a Texas trucking company owner to 25 years in federal prison for running a Mexico-to-Chicago drug pipeline that involved hiding heroin and cocaine in tractor-trailers.
Jose Farias, 44, was convicted by a federal jury in Chicago three years ago on drug conspiracy and possession charges. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey.
“The drugs defendant caused to be distributed were resold to thousands of people, fueling addiction, tearing families apart, and decimating communities — all for the profit of defendant and his co-conspirators,” prosecutors Richard M. Rothblatt and Kristen Totten wrote in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
The federal investigation revealed that in 2015 and 2016, Farias, who owned a trucking company in McAllen, Texas, and resided in Mexico, arranged with truck drivers to transport dozens of kilograms of narcotics to the Chicago area hidden in the hollowed-out wheel axles of tractor-trailers. The traffickers then hid cash in the trucks for the return trip back to Texas and Mexico.