Former Starr County Sheriff Reymundo Guerra was sentenced Thursday to five years and four months in federal prison for helping Gulf Cartel operatives move marijuana and cocaine through his remote border county.The prison term, set to begin Sept. 28, makes Guerra the second Starr County sheriff in a row to do time and the latest in a line of Rio Grande Valley officials convicted of corruption and abuse of office.
"I'm saddened to see a law enforcement officer who's indicted like this," U.S. District Judge Randy Crane said, recalling the recent conviction of Cameron County Sheriff Conrado Cantu. "It is a stain on the badge."
Guerra was named in October along with 14 others on a 19-count indictment stemming from an investigation dubbed "Operation Carlito's Weigh."
He pleaded guilty in May to one of three charges against him -- conspiracy -- in an agreement that dropped other charges and gave hope for a lighter sentence.
Since then, the investigation has netted 28 defendants. Jose Carlos Hinojosa, a former Mexican police official pegged as the ringleader of the operation, is to be sentenced in October. In the end, Crane said, it appeared Guerra's role was as a "minor participant" in a "significant, large conspiracy."
Though he may have helped smugglers evade detection with tips on stings or recent seizures, there was no evidence that Guerra arranged to move drugs or was a key player in the cartel operation. It's unclear whether his ill-gotten gains amounted to more than a few thousand dollars.