United States Attorney Richard B. Roper
Northern District of Texas

FINAL DEFENDANTS SENTENCED IN ELLIS COUNTY, TEXAS,
METHAMPHETAMINE DISTRIBUTION CASE

DALLAS — The final two defendants who were convicted following a nine-month investigation culminating last January when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Mobile Enforcement Team (MET), assisted by local and state authorities from the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office and the Waxahachie Police Department, worked undercover to arrest numerous major drug distributors in the Ellis County area in a large methamphetamine distribution case that charged 14 North Texas residents with various offenses related to their role in the organization, have been sentenced, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper of the Northern District of Texas.

Brent Wilson, 27, was sentenced yesterday to 156 months (13 years) in prison following his guilty plea in May 2007 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Wilson admitted that on multiple occasions between April and November 2006, he distributed methamphetamine to coconspirator Sunshine Thornton in the Ellis County area and elsewhere. Sunshine Thornton, 33, was sentenced to 78 months (6.5 years) in prison.

Late last year, John Arredondo was sentenced to 216 months (18 years) in prison and Lee Roy Chaney to 132 months (11 years) in prison. Both Arredondo, 32, and Chaney, 33, are from Ellis County, Texas. John Arredondo was the lead defendant in the federal indictment that charged him and eight co-conspirators with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance. He pled guilty in April to the conspiracy charge. Lee Roy Chaney was convicted at trial in July on two counts of distribution of methamphetamine and aiding and abetting.

Convicted defendants and their sentences are:

∙ John Arredondo 216 months in prison
∙ Daniel Escobar, Jr. 120 months in prison
∙ Caryssa Heath 84 months in prison
∙ Brea Ann Smith 60 months in prison
∙ Rebecca Mourad-Vasquez 48 months in prison
∙ Joshua Castro 70 months in prison
∙ Samuel Gonzales 48 months in prison
∙ Michael Reynolds 60 months in prison
∙ Angel Rodriguez 135 months in prison
∙ Robert Castillo 190 months in prison
∙ Lee Roy Chaney 132 months in prison
∙ David Paul Smith 106 months in prison
∙ Sunshine Thornton 78 months in prison
∙ Brent Wilson 156 months in prison

Arredondo admitted that beginning in April 2006, he and his co-conspirators were involved in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine to other members of the conspiracy for further distribution in Ellis County and elsewhere. Arredondo admitted he sold methamphetamine to customers including individuals he later learned were undercover agents or confidential informants. On one occasion, when returning to Ellis County after going to Dallas to pick up a half pound of methamphetamine from his supplier, law enforcement officers observed him commit a traffic violation and attempted to stop him. Arredondo did pull over to the side of the road, but sped away as one of the officers walked toward his vehicle. During the ensuing pursuit, Arredondo threw the methamphetamine out of the window of his vehicle.

At Chaney’s trial, the government presented evidence that on April 12, 2006, Chaney, aided and abetted by other persons, distributed methamphetamine to a confidential source. Later that same month, Chaney, aided and abetted by other persons, negotiated the sale of a quarter-pound of methamphetamine to a confidential source in exchange for $3000.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the DEA, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Waxahachie and Ennis, Texas, Police Departments. The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim McCabe.

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