Allan Ricardo Medina-Morales, a 39-year-old Honduran national living illegally in Judsonia, Arkansas, has been sentenced to 135 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. The sentencing was announced by Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Chief United States District Judge Kristine G. Baker delivered the sentence.
Medina-Morales was indicted by a federal grand jury on February 7, 2023. The charges included conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge on April 23, 2024. In addition to the prison term, he received five years of supervised release. Federal sentences do not allow for parole.
The case stemmed from an investigation that began in March 2022. Law enforcement officials reported that Medina-Morales and others worked together to distribute methamphetamine. On March 15, 2022, Conway Police Department officers conducted surveillance at a co-conspirator’s house and observed Medina-Morales moving a duffel bag from his vehicle into the house and carrying another kilogram of methamphetamine from a tree stump into the same residence.
Later that day, after Medina-Morales and his associate left the house by car, Arkansas State Police troopers stopped their vehicle—owned by Medina-Morales—and found a Colt .38 caliber revolver in the glove box during their search. A subsequent search warrant led officers to discover about 10 kilograms of methamphetamine inside the duffel bag along with paraphernalia used for drug distribution. Laboratory analysis later confirmed that approximately 11.8 kilograms of methamphetamine were seized.
Records show that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents first arrested Medina-Morales for illegal entry near Edinburg, Texas on January 6, 2013. On October 9, 2019, an Immigration Court in Baltimore ordered him removed to Honduras; however, he did not appear at court as required. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer on Medina-Morales for deportation following completion of his prison sentence.
The Drug Enforcement Administration led the investigation with support from Arkansas State Police and Conway Police Department.
