FORT WORTH
A federal judge sentenced the last defendant in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in North Texas for two years to 33 years in prison, according to officials.
U.S. District Judge John McBryde last week sentenced 32-year-old Ismael Rico to 33 years and four months in federal prison.
Rico plead guilty in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.
According to documents filed in the case, Rico and co-defendant David Godinez conspired with each other to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.
Godinez, 30, of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced last month to 20 years and 10 months in federal prison.
Earlier this month, co-defendants James Gatlin, 40, of Garland, Texas, was sentenced to 26 years and eight months in federal prison; Matthew Ryan Thompson, 44, of Mineral Wells, Texas, was sentenced to 35 years; and Celeste Monette Blair, 45, of Jacksonville, Florida, was sentenced to 30 years.
Each plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Gatlin, Thompson and Blair admitted receiving multi-ounce quantities of methamphetamine from others in the conspiracy that they distributed to others, according to officials.
Each defendant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated.