The former owner of an Oak Cliff car lot was convicted recently of multiple felonies related to running methamphetamine out of his Hampton Road dealership.
Marco Antonio Gonzalez, who calls himself “Speedy,” according to the U.S. Department of Justice, was found guilty of multiple crimes after a four-day trial earlier this month: conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, two counts of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Federal investigators uncovered the scheme in 2017 and found that Gonzalez was associated with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. The justice department initially charged eight people in the scheme.
Gonzalez, 42, and his associates stored drugs at the dealership and bought and sold cars out of Hampton Motors as a way to “disguise the source of the funds,” the justice department says:
The defendants used homes in Dallas and DeSoto to serve as laboratories for the recrystallization of methamphetamine, and often carried firearms on those premises. Agents testified at trial that members of the cartel trafficked thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine this way.
During trial, prosecutors discovered that Mr. Gonzalez threatened to kill one of his co-conspirators, who was slated to testify against him. The threatened man went on to testify anyway, saying that Mr. Gonzalez used his dealership as a front for large-scale drug deals.
Raids on Aug. 31, 2017 found “750 kilograms of methamphetamine in both finished and liquid form, which was valued at $5-$7 million, approximately 2 kilograms of cocaine and 6 kilograms of heroin,” according to the justice department.
Gonzalez faces up to life in federal prison. Ten of his co-conspirators pleaded guilty before his trial.
