ST. LOUIS – A man who distributed large amounts of cocaine in St. Louis for a Mexican cartel was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison.
Jose Luis Mata-Cedillo, 40, was sentenced after pleading guilty in June to four felonies:
- Conspiracy to distribute cocaine
- Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
- Illegal reentry after deportation as an aggravated felon
- Being a felon in possession of a firearm
As part of his plea agreement, Mata-Cedillo admitted to working for a large-scale, multi-country drug trafficking organization as a distributor in St. Louis.
The investigation began when officials intercepted a courier in Kansas with 27 kilograms of cocaine, leading U.S. Homeland Security investigators to Mata-Cedillo.
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On April 26, 2025, Mata-Cedillo provided 5 kilos of cocaine to a confidential informant. Later that evening, investigators stopped a courier who had been paid by Mata-Cedillo, seizing $54,600 in cash and around 10 kilos of cocaine…