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Readers, have you ever purchased coke or meth from a man named Yayo? If so, stop reading, get on a Greyhound and immediately get out of town.
For the rest of you: “Yayo” was the subtle nickname of a convicted drug dealer named Sergio Moreno Vidales, a former Dallas resident who just became the 51st person to be sentenced to prison for his role in a massive North Texas drug bust.
It turns out that Dallas, the city where big things happen, has also been home to really big drug deals. In 2010, the Drug Enforcement Administration set their sights on some meth-distribution cells here, according to a complaint filed by the DEA. With the help of the Carrollton Police Department, the DEA found that Dallas drug dealers were working on behalf of La Familia, a once-notorious drug cartel in Mexico, transporting meth and coke between between Michoacan, Mexico, and Dallas.
When police got a warrant and searched a Texas home in 2011, they say that Vidales was there, lying on a bed with his hands underneath the mattress, while another guy ran into a closet.
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Vidales refused to take his hands out of the mattress so police pulled him off the bed, discovering a gun underneath the mattress. Vidales is — oh God, how do we say this without awakening the comment trolls — an undocumented immigrant, which means that he wasn’t technically allowed to possess the firearm.
In addition to weapons, police seized 100 kilograms of methamphetamine, several kilograms of cocaine and $725,000 in cash.
On Wednesday, Judge Ed Kinkeade handed Vidales his sentence, a cozy 28 years in federal prison. The sentencing comes after the 37-year-old was convicted by a jury in February on the drug-deal charges, which include distributing methamphetamine for the La Familia drug cartel.
“Targeting drug cartels that have infiltrated North Texas and jeopardized the safety and security of our communities will continue to be a priority in this district,” U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña said in a statement.
On the plus side, maybe when Yayo is free he can get some sort of Orange is the New Black Netflix deal out of the whole thing.
