CRIME

Texas man distributed cocaine through Memphis, sentenced to 174 months

Phillip Jackson
Memphis Commercial Appeal
17. The War on Drugs The War on Drugs has largely failed. There were 70,237 drug overdose deaths in the United States last year, following a trend of significant annual increase. New ways to prevent drug use will have to be tried. The zero tolerance policy against drug users that President Ronald Reagan's administration started resulted in the mass incarceration of people for nonviolent crimes -- from 50,000 in 1980 to 400,000 in 1997. Funding was taken from programs for education, prevention, and rehab and transferred to programs aimed at intercepting and ceasing drugs. There is some interest in decriminalization of drugs because then they can be regulated.

A man from Brownsville, Texas was sentenced to 174 months in prison on Monday for distributing 20 kilograms of cocaine through Memphis en route to the East Tennessee area, according to the United States Attorney's Office for thr Western District of Tennessee. 

On Sept. 25, 2017, an agent with the West Tennessee Drug Task Force stopped two men for a traffic violation on I-40, according to information that was presented in court. The agent became suspicious when the driver provided false answers and a fake driver's license, according to the federal attorney's office. 

After a search was conducted, agents determined that the amount of cocaine found in the car weighed 50 pounds. The drugs were traced back to Jose Manuel Escobedo in Texas.

Escobedo was charged with conspiracy to distribute and distributing cocaine. 

According to the federal attorney's office, agents discovered the drugs were distributed over the border through Mexico. 

The two other men involved plead guilty to trafficking earlier this summer.