DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Northern District of Texas

For Immediate Release

Monday, February 22, 2016
John R. Parker
, United States Attorney
Contact: Kathy Colvin

Methamphetamine Trafficker Sentenced to 400 Months in Federal Prison

FORT WORTH, Texas — The last defendant to be sentenced in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy that operated in North Texas for two years was sentenced today to a lengthy federal prison sentence, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Ismael Rico, 32, of Dallas, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to serve 400 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. According to documents filed in the case, Rico and co-defendant David Godinez conspired with each other to possess with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. Godinez, 30, of Mesquite, Texas, was sentenced last month to 250 months in federal prison.

Earlier this month, co-defendants James Gatlin, 40, of Garland, Texas, was sentenced to 320 months in federal prison; Matthew Ryan Thompson, 44, of Mineral Wells, Texas, was sentenced to 420 months; and Celeste Monette Blair, 45, of Jacksonville, Florida, was sentenced to 360 months. Each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Gatlin, Thompson and Blair admitted receiving multi-ounce quantities of methamphetamine from others in the conspiracy that they distributed to others.

The other four defendants convicted in the case have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from 250 to 480 months. Each defendant pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Texas Department of Public Safety investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith prosecuted.

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Dallas Field Division