Texas man receives maximum sentence in federal court

From United States Attorney’s Office/Southern District of Mississippi

GULFPORT, Miss. (WDAM) - An Edinburg, Texas, man was sentenced Wednesday in federal court to 20 years in prison for conspiring to possess with intent distribute cocaine.

Jose Humberto Gandara, 52, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Gulfport.

According to Court documents and evidence presented at trial, Gandara was stopped in Gulfport in 2016 while driving a Volkswagen Jetta.

The 2012 Jetta contained almost $150,000 hidden in a concealed compartment located under the center console.

Gandara initially denied any knowledge of the money.

Officers then showed Gandara a pair of shoes, which they located in the hidden compartment. The officers previously cut the shoes to see if they contained a tracker.

Gandara asked the officers why they cut his shoes, and when they confronted him with the fact that the shoes came from the hidden compartment, Gandara admitted to moving the money for a percentage.

Gandara denied being involved with narcotics, but photographs from his phone appeared to depict bricks of cocaine.

Subsequent investigation revealed that the $150,000 seized from Gandara in Gulfport was payment for cocaine that was interdicted in Louisiana, while bound for Moss Point, Mississippi.

The evidence and testimony at trial showed that Gandara was acting on behalf of a source of supply, located in Texas, who was importing cocaine directly from Mexico and sending it on to Moss Point.

On Jan. 11, 2024, after a trial, a federal jury convicted Gandara of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Gandara faced a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Steven Hofer of the Drug Enforcement Administration made the announcement.

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