Prosecutors said Tommie Lee Gutierrez helped unload meth smuggled from Mexico and send drug money back across the border.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Corpus Christi man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for his role in a meth trafficking operation, according to federal prosecutors.
Tommie Lee Gutierrez, 30, pleaded guilty in January to a drug conspiracy charge. A federal judge sentenced him to federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.
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Prosecutors said Gutierrez is a member of the Tango Corpitos street gang and has three previous felony convictions.
Investigators said the drug operation brought large amounts of meth from Mexico into the Coastal Bend. The drugs were hidden inside vehicles and shipments of goods, including cabinets.
Gutierrez helped receive the vehicles and remove the hidden packages of meth, according to prosecutors. The vehicles were then loaded with money from drug sales and driven back to Mexico to pay suppliers. Prosecutors said Gutierrez once crashed and abandoned a vehicle carrying meth on a Corpus Christi street before all of the drugs had been removed.
The vehicle was later taken to a city impound lot, where kilograms of meth were found hidden inside the driver’s side door. During Gutierrez’s sentencing, the judge also heard that while Gutierrez was in custody on an unrelated felony, he made a phone call discussing plans to return to the drug operation.
Gutierrez remains in custody and will be transferred to a federal prison.