Victor Vazquez-Hernandez
INDIANAPOLIS — A Seymour man who authorities say had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel will spend several years behind bars for his role in an alleged conspiracy to transport drugs from the U.S.-Mexico border and distribute them in Bartholomew County and elsewhere.
On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced Victor Vazquez-Hernandez to 10 years and seven months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine as part of the alleged conspiracy, according to court filings in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis.
The government had asked that he be sentenced to no more than 12.5 years in prison, according to court records.
Federal authorities that Vazquez-Hernandez and more than a dozen other individuals were part of a drug trafficking network with ties to a Mexican drug cartel once run by notorious leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman that used a number of couriers and mailing companies to transport methamphetamine and other substances from the U.S.-Mexico border to Indianapolis.
From there, the drugs would be handed off to other individuals to distribute in other areas of central and southern Indiana, including Bartholomew and Jackson counties, according to court filings.
Other local residents who were arrested as part of the alleged conspiracy include Claudio Garcia-Morales of Columbus, Abel Ayala-Garcia of Columbus, Allison Perdue of Seymour and Erlin Lucero-Asencio, who used to live in Columbus and has a criminal history in Bartholomew County.
Vazquez-Hernandez’s sentencing came two days after a federal judge set a March 13 sentencing for Seymour resident Allison Perdue, who filed a petition this past November to plead guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Garcia-Morales was recently sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
In August, Lucero-Asencio filed a petition to plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. However, he withdrew his petition in November and asked for a new attorney.
His new attorney, who was appointed to represent him on Dec. 7, asked the judge to push back his March 25 trial date to allow her more time to consult with her client on the pending charges and review discovery.
On Jan. 29, the judge agreed to push back the trail date to Aug. 26 for several defendants, including Lucero-Asencio and Ayala-Garcia, who has been charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder money
Lucero-Asencio previously resided in Columbus and has a criminal history in Bartholomew County, according to local court records.
He was arrested in Columbus in 2013 after allegedly selling $5,300 in methamphetamine to a confidential informant on two occasions in the parking lot of the Kroger Marketplace on North National Road, according to a probable cause affidavit.
He also was arrested in Columbus in 2015 for possession of a cocaine after allegedly offering the drug to an individual in the bathroom of the El Corral Night Club on State Street.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials told The Republic in 2022 that the members of the drug trafficking ring were some of the biggest suppliers of drugs in Bartholomew and Jackson counties — including methamphetamine and fentanyl — and had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which experts say controls a wholesale distribution network in the U.S. and elsewhere to get drugs into the hands of local street dealers.
The charges stem from an investigation launched by the DEA in 2021, court records state. Over the course of the investigation, federal agents received authorization to intercept and monitor communications on nine cellphones, including two phones belonging to Lucero-Asencio.
DEA agents said the suspects would routinely communicate and discuss obtaining and distributing methamphetamine over the intercepted phones.
Additionally, federal authorities said several of the individuals involved in the drug trafficking network attempted to disguise financial transactions to conceal that the money came from distributing controlled substances.
Court filings state that the conspirators sent at least 324 wire transfers totaling $291,116 from Indiana to Phoenix, Arizona, and Mexico from Jan. 5, 2020, to April 26, 2022 — including a wire transfer made directly from Columbus to a municipality in Sinaloa, Mexico. Sinaloa is a state along the Pacific Ocean in northwestern Mexico.
Over the course of the investigation, authorities learned that Vazquez-Hernandez communicated with Lucero-Asencio on one of the intercepted cell phones and via WhatsApp to obtain methamphetamine, according to his petition to plead guilty.
Vazquez-Hernandez was arrested in Seymour in April 2022 with $2,688 in cash. Authorities later searched a room he had rented at the Economy Inn in Seymour from April 26, 2022, to May 4, 2022, and found methamphetamine under the bed and in a nightstand drawer totaling 505 grams.
Federal agents say that Vazquez-Hernandez was responsible for distributing 500 to 1,000 grams of methamphetamine over the course of the alleged conspiracy.
