HOUSTON – A 61-year-old man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for distributing crystal meth in the Houston area for the Gulf Cartel, according to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani.
Carlos Rodriguez-Gayton pleaded guilty on Nov. 8, 2022. On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced him to 168 months in federal prison followed by five years of probation.
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At the hearing, Rodriguez-Gayton’s attorneys asked for a lower sentence based, in part, on their client’s “minor” position with the cartel, but the judge denied their request.
From October 2020 through January 2021, Rodriguez-Gayton sold approximately three kilos of crystal meth over the course of multiple transactions that occurred in Houston. Then, on Jan. 21, 2021, he sold two more kilos of crystal.
Rodriguez-Gayton will remain in custody until a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility is chosen for him to live out his sentence.