HOUSTON – A 24-year-old man has pleaded guilty to trafficking drugs through the Houston area, announced U.S. attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani with the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas said Thursday.
On Oct. 27, Alberto Serna pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute meth.
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U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt sentenced Serna on Thursday to 168 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. At the hearing, the court heard evidence that Serna was held accountable for 7,513 grams of meth.
“Meth kills and destroys entire communities, and my office will use all means necessary to stop the proliferation of toxic drugs that inflict harm on our citizens” said Hamdani. “You can’t sell kilograms of drugs in the Southern District of Texas without paying a hefty price, and today’s sentence represents that.”
On April 15, 2022, authorities learned Serna would be transporting a large number of drugs. The officers then conducted surveillance and observed Serna committing suspicious activity. Authorities stopped Serna’s vehicle and found eight kilograms of meth, worth an estimated street value of $130,000.
At the time of his plea, Serna admitted he possessed the meth with the intent to distribute it.
Serna has been and will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future, authorities said in a news release about the case.
The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with the assistance of Harris County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stuart A. Burns prosecuted the case.