Drug smuggler who rammed Border Patrol SUV gets 11 years

Posted: Thursday, May 16, 2013 11:56 am
The Monitor
Posted on May 16, 2013
by Ildefonso Ortiz

McALLEN — A Rio Grande City man has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison on drug charges and for ramming a Border Patrol vehicle.

On Thursday morning, U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez sentenced Jorge Eduardo Lopez to 135 months in prison, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

According to court records, Lopez pleaded guilty Jan. 1 after allegations that when U.S. Border Patrol agents tried to stop him, he fled Rio Grande City in a vehicle carrying more than 650 pounds of marijuana. Then, during a high-speed chase, Lopez rammed one of the Border Patrol SUVs and was caught soon after. The agent wasn’t hurt.

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Ildefonso Ortiz covers courts and law enforcement for The Monitor. He can be reached at iortiz@themonitor.com and (956) 683-4437 or on Twitter, @IldefonsoOrtiz.

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