SAN DIEGO – A Tijuana-based drug trafficker who used teens as drug couriers was sentenced in federal court today to seven years in prison and a $50,000 fine for his leadership role in coordinating the movement of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and methamphetamine to San Diego from Mexico.
Osvaldo Medivil-Tamayo, 22, pleaded guilty in August 2020 to conspiracy to import and conspiracy to distribute federally controlled substances. In his plea agreement, Mendivil admitted he was “the leader of a drug distribution cell based in Tijuana” and that he used high school students as drug couriers to move drugs through San Diego ports of entry.
Mendivil also admitted that he “involved individuals less than 18 years of age in crossing drugs.” He admitted that he and his co-conspirators “specifically recruited high school students who crossed through the San Diego Ports of Entry daily. Mendivil knew that these individual[s] were minors as they hid narcotics on their persons, in backpacks, and in vehicles as they crossed into the United States.” According to court filings, Mendivil’s trafficking activities were captured on a wiretap on his Snapchat account. Mendivil’s own messages indicated his significant involvement in coordinating drug transportation loads. Mendivil sent and received numerous photographs and videos of narcotics on Snapchat, which DEA agents were able to review and collect as evidence.
Mendivil’s intercepted Snapchat messages also painted a picture of Mendivil knowingly using minors as drug couriers. Court filings highlight the specific conversations between Mendivil and his co-conspirators where Mendivil is provided with identification documents of would-be juvenile couriers, showing their ages. In one case, Mendivil received a photograph of a Chula Vista High School identification card and subsequently discussed the drop location for what agents believed to be several hundred pills.
According to his plea agreement, Mendivil worked as the transportation coordinator for several sources of supply of drugs and maintained a “cadre of couriers” to transport drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border in vehicles. Mendivil also paid others to recruit these couriers on his behalf. Mendivil admitted that the seizures of drugs attributed to his organization during the course of this investigation was approximately 150 kilograms total of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.
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At his sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Bashant noted Mendivil was “not only destroying lives with the drugs brought in but was destroying lives by getting other young people involved.”
“Our youth are being used by drug traffickers to smuggle dangerous drugs across the border,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman. “We are aggressively prosecuting the recruiters who exploit children. But the children also need to know that trying to sneak dangerous drugs under the noses of authorities is risky business. Don’t throw away your future.” Grossman praised prosecutor Meghan Heesch for her excellent work on this matter, and DEA and IRS agents for their innovative investigative strategies in this case.
“Drug cartels will do anything to get drugs into the United States so they can make their blood money – including putting our children in harm’s way,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge John W. Callery. “The DEA prioritizes investigations involving the exploitation of children and is involved in community outreach to educate parents and teenagers of the explicit dangers associated with smuggling drugs for cartels.”
Harris County police are investigating a shooting at a Houston apartment complex that left two teens dead and another injured.
The shooting happened Friday night around 10:40 p.m. on the 300 block of Airtex Drive when officers responded to a shooting call.
Upon arrival they found 3 males suffering from gunshot wounds. All three males were transported to an area hospital where two of the males succumbed to their injuries. They were 17 years old. The third victim is expected to survive.
During the preliminary investigation officers learned that multiple people were in the parking lot when numerous shots were fired.
A Listeria outbreak has now infected 23 people throughout in 10 various states. One person from Illinois has died as a result. All but one of the individuals had to be hospitalized, states the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency reported that Listeria is a sickness that usually affects pregnant women, newborns, other adults, and people with weakened immune systems. It is unusual for those who aren’t in one of these groups to get the illness. To add, antibiotics are used if a person is infected.
Symptoms are different, depending on the person and where they have been affected in their body. A small percentage of cases can lead to a fever or diarrhea.
For those with severe cases, they may experience invasive listeriosis which means bacteria extends pass the gut. If a woman is pregnant, she may experience muscle aches and fatigue. Headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions are also symptoms.
Although it usually doesn’t cause major symptoms in pregnant women, Listeria can cause fetuses and newborn babies to become very sick. It can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection in a newborn.
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During the recent outbreak, five pregnant women became ill and suffered a miscarriage.
For people who are 65 or older, they could develop an infection in the bloodstream or brain. They may also experience problems with their joints, bones, chest, and abdomen.
Listeria outbreaks are almost always related to food contamination products. The CDC hasn’t validated where the outbreak started. However, almost all of the people who had gotten sick reside in or had gone to Florida about a month prior to becoming ill. It’s uncertain if that is a coincidence.
35-year-old Andrew Charles Beard, from Rowlett, Texas, cyberstalked, shot, and fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend. It occurred as the two were going through a custody battle.
Last week, Beard pleaded guilty to two violent federal crimes. He had been charged with cyberstalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Beard will receive his punishment on October 6 and could receive two life sentences.
Authorities say that he admitted to stalking and killing his ex-girlfriend, Alyssa Burkett, 24. It happened in a parking lot in Carrollton on October 2, 2020. Beard wanted to have custody of the couple’s daughter who was a 1-year-old at the time.
Beard confessed to placing a GPS tracker inside of Burkett’s vehicle. He then trailed her to her apartment where he shot her in the head.
Burkett was able to get to a parking lot that was nearby. However, Beard found her and stabbed her 13 times.
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Burkett’s mother and colleagues informed authorities that she had been scared of Beard. She was worried that he had been following her and felt like he may kill her. Burkett’s boyfriend added that Beard seemed to be “overly obsessed” with Burkett and their daughter.
“This was a brutal, bloody crime. Ms. Burkett’s daughter is now suffering twin tragedies. Her mother is deceased, and her father is an admitted murderer. We pray for strength for this child and the rest of her family…” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham.
