There has been another delay in the federal court case involving allegations of significant drug distribution activity between Emporia and Mexico.
Attorneys for Omar Villa-Carranza had requested a 60-day delay so a translator can produce English-language transcripts of prior interviews. With no objections from federal prosecutors, Judge Holly Teeter approved the delay, meaning shifting a planned hearing Tuesday to Dec. 16. Besides Villa-Carranza, who is from Mexico, the delay also the remaining co-defendants in the case: Troy Wagaman and Jesus Cruz-Rodriguez from Emporia, Moises Cervantes-Sanchez of Texas and Tiburcio Ayala-Rangel of Mexico.
The remaining defendants are still charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, as well as possession with intent to distribute, as part of an alleged drug distribution ring that involved trips from Mexico to Emporia and back between January and May. The local alleged operation worked out of a home in the 800 block of West Fifth and a shipping container in the 1200 block of Road D southwest of Emporia. Authorities say they seized close to 100 gallons of liquid meth, 75 guns, $20,000 and a conversion lab at the Road D location, as well as over 130 pounds of crystal meth and another conversion lab at West Fifth.
Previous co-defendant Elizabeth Benitez has been dismissed from the case.
