Date: 09-13-2016

Case Style: United States of America v. Eduardo Trejo-Munoz, a/k/a “Lalo”

Case Number: 5:14-cr-00060-RLV-DSC

Judge: Richard L. Voorhees

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina

Plaintiff's Attorney: Steven R. Kaufman

Defendant's Attorney: Richard Eugene Beam, Jr. for Jorge Santacruz-Ruiz

Jeffrey W. Gillette for Eduardo Trejo-Munoz

Kenneth D. Snow for Jose Luis Zavala

Description: Statesville, NC - Methamphetamine Trafficker Sentenced To More than 21 Years

U.S. District Judge Richard L. Voorhees sentenced Eduardo Trejo-Munoz, a/k/a “Lalo,” 24, of Hickory, N.C., to 262 months in prison and five years of supervised release for trafficking high purity crystal methamphetamine worth over $5 million, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. In November 2015, Trejo-Munoz was convicted of five charges following a two-day federal trial, including conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making the announcement by Daniel R. Salter, Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which oversees the Charlotte District Office; Nick Annan, Special Agent in Charge of ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Georgia and the Carolinas; Sheriff Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office; Sheriff Alan C. Jones, of the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office; and Chief Thurman Whisnant of the Hickory Police Department.

According to filed court documents, the sentencing hearing and evidence presented at trial, from in or about 2013 through September 2014 in Catawba and Mecklenburg counties and elsewhere, Trejo-Munoz trafficked more than 50 kilograms of near-pure crystal methamphetamine, which constitutes approximately 500,000 dosage units, with a street value of more than $5 million. Evidence presented at trial established that, over the course of the investigation, law enforcement purchased 133 grams of methamphetamine from Trejo-Munoz. According to court records, law enforcement also seized another 54 grams of methamphetamine from the defendant, as well as drug paraphernalia and a handgun with laser site from his residence.

This prosecution stems from investigation of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) that has resulted in the conviction of more than 55 defendants on methamphetamine trafficking and firearms charges. OCDETF is a joint federal, state and local cooperative approach to combat drug trafficking and is the nation’s primary tool for disrupting and dismantling major drug trafficking organizations, targeting national and regional drug trafficking organizations and coordinating the necessary law enforcement entities and resources to disrupt or dismantle the targeted criminal organization and seize their assets.

Trejo-Munoz has been in federal custody since September 2014 and will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.

Outcome: The defendant was sentenced to 262 months in prison and five years of supervised release.

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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