Valley men convicted of selling crack that killed man

FOur Rio Grande Valley men were convicted of drug trafficking and drug sales, with one man dying after a transaction, according to the Southern District of Texas Attorney General’s Office.

McAllen residents Gabriel Ortiz (31), Francisco Ortiz (53) and Adbento Guerrero (62) as well as Edinburg resident Alonzo Rolando Garza (42) have all already pleaded guilty.

According to a USAO press release, Gabriel Ortiz was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Francisco Ortiz received a 10-year sentence.

Guerrero and Garza had previously been sentenced to prison terms of more than two and ten years respectively.

The quartet will be on probation for five years following their sentencing.

“Gabriel Ortiz and his co-conspirators directly caused the death of a human being through their irresponsible and criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani in the press release. “This case highlights the dangers of local drug trafficking and drug use.”

An investigation revealed that the four men trafficked cocaine in the McAllen and Edinburg areas between 2019 and 2020. The press release states that the co-conspirators bought and sold several kilograms of cocaine and smaller amounts of cocaine base, also known as “crack.”

According to the press release, Gabriel Ortiz sold approximately three grams of cocaine base to a 53-year-old man who died in November 2020 as a result of consuming the narcotic.

In July 2019, according to a criminal complaint, Edinburg police first received information about Gabriel Ortiz’s drug trafficking activities from a “reliable confidential source.”

The source said Gabriel Ortiz would sell both powder cocaine and crack cocaine.

On October 21, 2019, Edinburgh investigators worked with the source to develop a plan for a controlled purchase of crack cocaine.

The source made a recorded phone call with Ortiz, with whom they conducted the transaction. The source was under observation and supervision of investigators when the transaction of an undisclosed amount of crack cocaine was carried out.

The crack was examined and marked as evidence.

On September 11, 2020, detectives conducted another controlled crack buy, using the same procedure as before and again marking the narcotics as evidence.

Between October 2019 and September 2020, 42.3 grams of crack cocaine were sold between Gabriel Ortiz and the confidential course, the complaint states.

In the end, law enforcement estimated the street value of the drugs at around $260,000.

According to the press release, law enforcement also seized $294,520 in cash and assets as part of the case.