A long-haul trucker from West Texas has pleaded guilty in a 2011 multistate drug-hauling ring.
Federal prosecutors in Midland say 37-year-old Rigoberto Marquez of Odessa pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. No sentencing date was immediately set for Marquez, who faces up to 10 years in prison
Marquez in mid-2011 tried to recruit another Texas driver to transport cocaine from Arizona to Ohio, then return money from the sales to Arizona.
Prosecutors say the other trucker became an FBI informant in the drug ring with ties to Mexico.
Prosecutors say on Nov. 18, 2011, Kentucky State Police near Elizabethtown confiscated about $307,000 in drug money hidden in the truck Marquez was driving from Columbus, Ohio.
The cash has been forfeited.
