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Mexican cartel drug trafficker sentenced in Atlanta

Carlos Montemayor, of Tamaulipas, Mexico, was sententenced to 34 years and three months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

ATLANTA — The head of the U.S. arm of the cocaine transportation and distribution network of Edgar Valdez-Villareal, also known as La Barbie, has been sentenced to federal prison for trafficking cocaine and money laundering.

In a news release Thursday, U.S. Attorney Byung J. "BJay" Pak said U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May sentenced Carlos Montemayor, of Tamaulipas, Mexico, to 34 years and three months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Montemayor, or "El Charro" as he's known, pleaded guilty late last year.

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“Montemayor came to the United States from Mexico and used his skills, hard work, and the opportunities afforded in this country to build a successful trucking company from the ground up,” said Pak. “However, he was ultimately driven by greed and partnered with Edgar Valdez-Villareal to convert his trucking company into a transportation arm for the Sinaloa and Beltran-Leyva cartels, shipping tons of cocaine and drug money across the United States.”

Pak says Montemayor in 1992 established a successful trucking and logistics company in Laredo, Texas, that specialized in moving goods from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, into the United States. 

He partnered with Valdez-Villareal in 2002 and soon, his company began moving up to 300 kilograms of cocaine a week to stash houses in Atlanta; Memphis, Tennessee, and other U.S. cities.

“Today’s sentencing of Carlos Montemayor is a victory for the citizens of this country," said Robert J. Murphy, the Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta.

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