By Michelle Villarreal
Corpus Christi Caller-Times
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas Rudy Rodriguez, 31, was sentenced to 27 years for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than 5 grams of crystal methamphetamine and 10 years for conspiracy to commit murder.
He will serve the two terms at the same time.
Rodriguez pleaded guilty to the charges in June, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.
The charges were part of an indictment involving 13 other members of the gang accused of violent acts including assaults, robbery and drug trafficking. Some of the defendants’ charges related to a home invasion in which a man was shot along with two nightclub shootings.
The indictment accused Rodriguez of conspiring to kill a gang member who he believed stole drug money, according to the news release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Patterson said Wednesday in court that Rodriguez illegally used a cellphone while in prison on an unrelated conviction to help in the murder plot. Patterson also played two phone conversations he said was proof Rodriguez and another defendant had negotiated purchasing crystal methamphetamine and obtaining a firearm to retrieve stolen money.
Rodriguez’s attorney, Joel Thomas, said Rodriguez never made a deal to purchase the drugs and hadn’t been aware of any firearms other fellow gang members owned.
The charges against Rodriguez and the others, some who are awaiting trial, were related to an ongoing investigation by the Corpus Christi police’s gang and organized crime units, Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives and Office of the Inspector General.
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