A convicted Texas drug dealer will spend 25 years in prison for his role in distributing large quantities of cocaine around Corpus Christi. Authorities learned of the drug operation after a shootout with rivals revealed that his house doubled as a storefront.
Late last week, 26-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez went before U.S. District Judge David Morales in Corpus Christi. Morales sentenced him to 25 years in prison on drug conspiracy and weapons charges. Court documents revealed that jurors found him guilty in April during a three-day trial with two hours of deliberation. During the trial, Rodriguez tried to claim that he was not a dealer, but merely an addict.
The case began in May 2019, when police in Corpus Christi responded to a shootout at house. Federal prosecutors claimed the shootout was between rival dealers. Authorities found varying amounts of crack cocaine and meth. A subsequent raid at a storage unit revealed more than $1.26 million, 52 firearms, and more cocaine.
A federal indictment revealed there were at least seven members in Rodriguez’s distribution facing charges at the time. The region around Corpus Christi is just north of a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint that is considered the last barrier for traffickers. This location has turned the coastal city into a busy drug hub.
Luisana Moreno is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.
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