SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego man who ran a methamphetamine distribution operation that involved having people smuggle drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Terrance Deandre Ellison, 43, arranged for drug addicts to travel into Mexico and cross back into the U.S. with methamphetamine either inside their bodies or strapped to their bodies. The people who smuggled drugs for Ellison were paid in either cash or drugs upon delivering the product to Ellison on the American side of the border.
Prosecutors said Ellison tried to smuggle drugs himself after a number of his "body carriers" were arrested. He attempted to cross at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in May 2020 but was apprehended with methamphetamine packages concealed inside his rental car, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Ellison was convicted by a jury last year of four counts, including conspiracy to import methamphetamine.
