A Baytown man is headed to federal prison for his part in a huge cocaine load. A federal judge in Brownsville gave him 70 months.

Pablo Luis Fuentes-Rivas is 40. He pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025. The charge was possession with intent to deliver cocaine. That means he had the drug and planned to pass it on.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. handed down the sentence at a hearing on Sept. 17. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas shared the news the next day.

After prison, he will spend three years on supervised release. That means a federal officer will keep watch on him once he gets out.

The case has a Valley tie. One of the men charged with him is from Weslaco. His case is not over yet.

It all goes back to March 29, 2025. The feds say cops ran an undercover plan that day. A big rig loaded with cocaine was on its way to the Houston and Baytown areas.

Three cars rode along with the big rig. The feds say their job was to watch for cops. Efren Pinales-Hernandez drove one of them.

Later, agents saw three men at a truck lot in Baytown. The feds named them as Fuentes-Rivas, Pinales-Hernandez and Daniel Teniente-Marfileno. Agents say the men were moving bundles of cocaine out of the big rig. The bundles went into a Ford F-150. Teniente-Marfileno was the driver of the F-150.

Teniente-Marfileno drove off with the cocaine. Cops pulled him over and took him into custody.

Officers seized about 182.25 kilograms of cocaine. The feds put the street value at nearly $2.3 million.

Agents then arrested Fuentes-Rivas and Pinales-Hernandez at the truck lot. The feds say the two men were trying to leave.

In 2025, prosecutors said the drugs were headed for the Houston area and states up north.

The three men first went before a judge in Houston. Then their cases moved to federal court in Brownsville.

When they were first charged, the feds used a criminal complaint. That is a formal charge, not proof. It accused them of having the drug with plans to pass it on. It also accused them of planning the crime together. Back then, prosecutors said each man could get up to life in prison. They could also be fined up to $10 million.

The DEA and Homeland Security Investigations ran the case. They had help from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Houston police, the Cameron County Sheriff's Office and Baytown police.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Oscar Ponce is the prosecutor on the case.

The feds say this case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force. That is a federal team aimed at cartels, gangs and smuggling rings. It was set up by an order from the president.

Fuentes-Rivas is still in custody. He will stay there until he is moved to a federal prison. The feds say that prison will be picked soon.

Teniente-Marfileno is 39. The feds say he is a Mexican citizen who lives in Baytown. He also pleaded guilty. His sentencing is set for Sept. 29.

Pinales-Hernandez is 51 and from Weslaco. Federal prosecutors say he still faces further court action.

Everyone is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.