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CORSICANA, Texas (AP) — Police say a North Texas traffic stop has led to the seizure of about 185 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $2.5 million.
Corsicana police arrested two men in the investigation that began with a stop on a highway near the city limits.
Police Chief Randy Bratton says nearly 100 pounds of marijuana was found in a vehicle during Monday's stop and the driver was arrested. That led to a search warrant executed at a Corsicana home, where 87 pounds of marijuana was confiscated and another man arrested.
Bratton says both suspects were on parole for drug offenses. They now face more smuggling-related counts.
Bratton says the case involves high-grade marijuana that likely was being smuggled from Mexico.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — State Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon is resigning her Texas House seat effective this weekend.
The San Antonio Democrat was already not seeking re-election in Texas' March 1 primary, but submitted a resignation letter to Gov. Greg Abbott late Tuesday.
That means she will not finish a term that expires at the end of the year, even though the Legislature is not scheduled to reconvene until January 2017.
McClendon has served in the House since 1996. Health problems saw the 72-year-old use a motorized wheelchair throughout the 2015 legislative session.
In a statement Wednesday, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said McClendon's "tenacity has made our state fairer and stronger."
FORT WORTH, Texas — Three North Texas men were sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor to lengthy federal prison terms for their respective roles in a methamphetamine distribution conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Winfred Morgan Trammel, 39, of Breckenridge, Texas, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison. Co-conspirators Larry Hawkins, 59, of Wichita Falls, Texas, and Jackie Lynn Watters, 50, of Fort Worth, Texas, were each sentenced to 180 months in federal prison. Trammell was convicted at trial in September 2015 on one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Hawkins and Watters each pleaded guilty in October 2015 to the same offense.
At trial, the jury found that from before July 2014 to approximately June 2015, Trammel and others conspired together to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. According to plea documents filed in the case, since approximately 2014, Hawkins received more than 50 grams of methamphetamine from others charged in the indictment and distributed it to his customers in the Wichita Falls, Texas, area. Since approximately 2014, Watters assisted others in their distribution of methamphetamine by acting as a lookout or collecting drug proceeds.
A total of 29 defendants were charged in the case; 28 have been convicted, and most of those have been sentenced. Earlier this month, co-defendants Matthew Rutledge, 33, and Joel Prickett, 37, were sentenced to 324 months, and 160 months, respectively, in federal prison for their roles in the conspiracy.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Fort Worth Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Shawn Smith was in charge of the prosecution.