Former lawyer sentenced to 7 years for Mexico drug trafficking

June 25 (UPI) -- A former attorney from Mexico has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including methamphetamine, the Justice Department announced Monday.

Gustavo Castellanos-Tapia, 38, was sentenced to 90 months in prison Friday in Tacoma, Wash. He was not legally present in the United States and will likely be deported following his prison term.

Castellanos-Tapia was identified last year by law enforcement as a major supplier of methamphetamine to a drug trafficking organization with ties to the prison gang known as the Aryan Family. Officers used surveillance to catch him delivering suitcases filled with 30 to 40 pounds of methamphetamine every few weeks.

According to court documents, Castellanos-Tapia was not a drug user. He had previously worked as a lawyer in Mexico and came to the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Castellanos-Tapia said he worked as a boat painter before dealing drugs to increase his income after the economy stalled.

Castellanos-Tapia and 23 other defendants were indicted and arrested in March 2023. Agents seized an estimated 255 pounds of methamphetamine, 830,000 fentanyl pills, more than 26 pounds of fentanyl powder, cocaine and heroin, in addition to $668,000 of suspected drug proceeds and 225 firearms.

Prosecutors had requested a nine-year prison sentence for Castellanos-Tapia after Washington state saw a more than 27% increase in overdose deaths in 2023.

"Drugs like the methamphetamine that Castellanos-Tapia distributed have a devastating impact on the community," prosecutors wrote.

"Users of these drugs frequently resort to stealing -- from family members, friends and complete strangers -- to feed their addictions," they added. "No doubt, drug users are responsible for a large percentage of these crimes, as well as the violent crimes, in our communities."