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Jaime Lopez, 37, and his brother, Rafael Lopez-Macias, 46, both citizens of Mexico last known to be living in Norwalk who were involved in drug trafficking have been sentenced in Bridgeport federal court, U.S. Attorney John Durham announced.
Lopez-Macias received a term of 120 months in prison after pleading guilty in March to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and one count of reentry of removed alien.
Lopez will spend 60 months behind bars after pleading guilty in April to one count of conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine.
Durham said that Lopez-Macias was first convicted of trafficking cocaine in California in June 1998, leading to his deportation back to Mexico less than three years later. He reentered the country illegally again in 2009, before he was arrested in Connecticut for forgery and sent back to Mexico in November that year.
Lopez-Macias again illegally reentered the country, and between March and June last year, he was caught on a wiretap discussing the distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine as law enforcement agencies widened their investigation.
On June 11 last year, Lopez-Macias and a co-conspirator sold a kilogram of cocaine and a sample of meth for $31,500 in New Rochelle to an undercover agent working with police investigators. Approximately two weeks later, on June 26, Lopez-Macias again traveled from Norwalk to New Rochelle, picked up a kilogram of methamphetamine from his co-conspirator, and began driving back to Norwalk with the drugs.
While en route to Norwalk, Lopez-Macias was stopped by investigators and arrested for an immigration violation. Officers searched the vehicle and seized the kilogram of meth. He's been detained since.
Lopez, meanwhile, was intercepted on a different wiretap discussing the distribution of cocaine and, in May last year, he was involved in the purchase of a kilogram of cocaine for approximately $28,000 from a source of supply in New Rochelle.
When they complete their prison terms, both Lopez and Lopez-Macias will face possible deportation.
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