A member of a Mexican cartel was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a plan to smuggle more than 4,100 pounds of cocaine into the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.
The man, Jose Francisco Mendoza-Gomez, was convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia. He was part of a transfer of criminals from Mexico to the United States last fall along with 25 other fugitives, including more cartel members and leaders, human smugglers, and a suspect in a Los Angeles sheriff’s deputy’s 2008 murder.
Mendoza-Gomez was a key figure in a Mexico-based drug cartel, coordinating and transporting massive quantities of illegal drugs into America for years, according to a DOJ statement.
Sourcing cocaine from Colombia, the drug trafficking organization conducted operations in New York, Texas, and elsewhere within the country.
The cartel also engaged in smuggling large amounts of cash, bribing Mexican officials, and attempting kidnappings of rival drug traffickers, the DOJ said.
One of Mendoza-Gomez’s co-conspirators, leader of the organization Marisela Flores-Torruco, has already been convicted for her role. She was sentenced to 16 years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to possession, manufacture, or distribution of a controlled substance.
Mendoza-Gomez, specifically, handled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of narcotics proceeds and advised leadership on kidnappings and plans to obtain information from corrupt Mexican officials, according to the DOJ news release.
As part of the United States’ investigation, American law enforcement seized several large drug operations linked to the defendant’s cartel, including more than 3,000 pounds of cocaine in 2017.
The investigation also revealed that the drug trafficking organization used a Chinese money laundering scheme to move its narcotics out of the United States.
Another one of Mendoza-Gomez’s alleged co-conspirators, Qiyun Chen, was also convicted. Chen pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Chen and Flores-Torruco were also convicted in the Eastern District of Virginia for their roles within the drug trafficking organization.
In the transfer of fugitives from Mexico to the United States on Aug. 12, 2025, Mendoza-Gomez was one of 26 individuals accused of committing violent crimes across America.
“Today is the latest example of the Trump administration’s historic efforts to dismantle cartels and foreign terrorist organizations,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news release last fall. “These 26 men have all played a role in bringing violence and drugs to American shores—under this Department of Justice, they will face severe consequences.”
The accused cartel members, drug traffickers, hostage takers, human smugglers, and murderers are being tried in federal courts across the country. Almost all of the 26 individuals are facing up to life imprisonment.
According to the DOJ, Mendoza-Gomez’s case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency and its offices in Cartagena and Bogotá, Colombia; Panama City; Mexico City; and Guatemala City. The U.S. Diplomatic Security Service and Customs and Border Protection also collaborated in the investigation.
