A La Grange man will serve over 12 years in prison for federal drug charges.  49-year-old Osvaldo Fuentez-Buentello was sentenced to 148 months in prison for conspiracy to possess and possess with the intent to distribute five (5) kilograms or more of cocaine, fifty (50) grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, and twenty-eighty (28) grams or more of cocaine base (crack).  In addition, Buentello was sentenced for possession with intent to distribute fifty (50) grams or more of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, a quantity of cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to court documents, New Hanover County Sheriff’s deputies working on a tip pulled over Fuentez-Buentello as he was heading into New Hanover County from a Lenoir County “stash house.”  A K-9 alert on the vehicle led to the discovery of approximately five ounces or meth and nine ounces of cocaine, as well as a handgun.  Law enforcement also reportedly found over 400 grams of marijuana, 100 grams of cocaine, more than 28 grams of crack-cocaine, and more than $40,000 in cash during a subsequent search of Fuentez-Buentello’s stash house in La Grange.

Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office, Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigated the case and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Murphy Averitt  prosecuted the case.

This case is part of the Take Back North Carolina Initiative of The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.