Caught with 42 kilograms of cocaine, former city of Hidalgo maintenance worker pleads guilty

A former city of Hidalgo maintenance worker pleaded guilty Tuesday after being caught with 42 kilograms of cocaine.

Jose Alfonso Treviño Jr., 45, of Hidalgo and his wife, Rita Eva Moreno-Tinoco, pleaded guilty Tuesday morning during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo.

“He’s never been in trouble before,” said attorney David R. Gorena of Edinburg, who represents Treviño. “I believe he was employed by the city of Hidalgo for years and never had any problems. It’s a surprise to everybody.”

Hidalgo hired Treviño in 2012, according to documents released under the Texas Public Information Act. The city paid him $10.35 per hour.

Treviño and his wife purchased a modest home near Wilbur E. Lucas Elementary School in 2016.

“He was making a living. Paying bills. Supporting his family,” Gorena said. “And — I don’t know, it’s hard to understand.”

At some point, a drug trafficking organization apparently started paying Treviño to store large amounts of cocaine.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Treviño on Jan. 19, 2022, when a Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped a gray Chevrolet Silverado on the 4700 block of South Jackson Road.

“During the course of the traffic stop, the driver, identified as Jose Alfonso TREVINO, Jr. (TREVINO) admitted to being in possession of a personal use amount of cocaine,” according to the criminal complaint against him. “A subsequent search of the vehicle revealed two grocery bags on the rear floorboards that contained ten (10) bundles of a white powdery substance, which field tested positive for the properties of cocaine.”

Agents questioned Treviño about the drugs.

“Prior to the interview commencing, TREVINO asked if he could call his wife,” according to the criminal complaint. “During the call to his wife, TREVINO asked her to tell their son to clean out the garage in order for something to be parked in there.”

After the phone call, Treviño’s wife removed two plastic storage bins from the garage. She placed the storage bins in a white Chevrolet Traverse and drove away.

Officers stopped her and requested permission to search the car.

“MORENO provided consent to search the vehicle and law enforcement recovered twenty-seven (27) bundles of a white powdery substance inside the plastic storage bins that MORENO had previously removed from the garage,” according to the criminal complaint. “The substance field tested positive for the properties of cocaine.”

After his arrest, Treviño was accused of threatening law enforcement officers.

“Defendant allegedly made statements that he knew the identity of agents involved in the seizures, and when released, he would physically harm them,” according to an order signed by U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Scott Hacker.

Prosecutors charged Treviño with one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and two counts of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Moreno was charged with one count of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.

Treviño and Moreno pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop the possession charges against them.

Sentencing is scheduled for June. They face a minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

“They have a special needs child. And so they both have concerns because his mother is now taking care of the child,” Gorena said. “Obviously, we want the court to take that into account when they determine the sentence. But we’ll see what happens.”