TEXARKANA, Texas – A 47-year-old New Boston, Texas, man has been convicted of federal violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown Friday.
Armando Moya was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. The verdict was reached today following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Robert W. Schroeder III.
According to information presented in court, on June 7, 2018, law enforcement officers from the Drug Enforcement Administration and supporting law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant at Moya’s home. During the search, law enforcement officers located $198,184.00 in rubber-banded bundles of cash hidden in boxes in Moya’s closet with a pistol. Moya then confessed to being part of an international drug-trafficking ring: smuggling large quantities of drugs from Mexico to cities across the United States and returning with large quantities of United States currency. Moya described how he received drugs from his brother, Jose Roberto Moya. He also explained that the bulk currency hidden in his house was drug proceeds from New York that was destined for Mexico. In addition to his brother, Armando Moya identified multiple people involved in their drug-trafficking conspiracy, including their boss in Mexico named Don Roberto. The defendant’s brother, Jose Roberto Moya, was arrested earlier on his way to Armando Moya’s New Boston residence with eight kilograms of heroin and one kilogram of fentanyl. Testimony and extensive digital evidence at trial established that Armando Moya was responsible for delivering as much as 150 kilograms of heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine from November 2017 through June 2018 to Illinois, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. Special Agents from the DEA also testified at trial regarding the deadly role that heroin and fentanyl are currently playing in the nation-wide opioid epidemic.
Armando Moya’s codefendant and brother-in-law, Oscar Alan Chavez-Belman, has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. According to the factual basis in Chavez-Belman’s plea agreement and testimony at trial, Armando Moya supervised Chavez-Belman’s involvement in the conspiracy. Jose Moya has also pleaded guilty and been sentenced to federal prison. Armando Moya was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 21, 2018.
Under the federal statute, Moya faces up to life in federal prison at sentencing. The maximum statutory sentence prescribed by Congress is provided here for information purposes, as the sentencing will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Tyler, Corpus Christi, and Chicago offices and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan R. Hornok and Ryan D. Locker.
