Bellevue Man Sentenced for Firearm and Drug Trafficking Crimes

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United States Attorney’s Office – District of Nebraska, Feb 2, 2023

United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Carlos O. Lopez, 29, of Bellevue, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for distributing Alprazolam pills and possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.  United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Lopez to 3 months imprisonment on the distribution count and 60 months for the firearms offense, consecutive, for a total sentence of 63 months. There is no parole in the federal system.  After his release from prison, he will begin a 3-year term of supervised release for each charge, to run concurrently.

On January 15, 2020, during a controlled buy in Bellevue, a confidential informant, equipped with audio and visual recording equipment purchased 50 Alprazolam pills and a Ruger .380 handgun with live ammunition from Lopez. This event was monitored by law enforcement. Alprazolam is a Schedule IV controlled substance, which requires a prescription to possess.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.  This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive and the Omaha Police Department.