CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – A Mexican national living illegally in the United States has pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Braulio Villa-Chairez, also known as “Raul,” 31, admitted in federal court Monday that from March to October 2024, he worked with others to ship methamphetamine to West Virginia and other locations.
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Prosecutors said that in July 2024, he sent two packages from Houston, Texas, to a customer in West Virginia containing a total of 1.97 kilograms of methamphetamine “ice.”
He later picked up a package containing $4,800 from the customer and re-shipped it to Washington state.
In August 2024, Villa-Chairez sent another package with 963.8 grams of methamphetamine to Alabama.
In October, he helped a co-conspirator deliver more than 10 kilograms of methamphetamine to West Virginia by providing directions to locations in Kanawha County.
Villa-Chairez also admitted to living in the United States under the name “Jose Jesus Villa-Chairez” and having two prior federal felony convictions under that name.
He faces up to 20 years in prison, at least three years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine when sentenced on December 8, 2025.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer on him, and he will be transferred to ICE custody for removal proceedings after serving any sentence.
Villa-Chairez was one of several individuals indicted following a joint investigation into a Houston-based meth trafficking ring.
Co-defendant Silvester Barcenas, 23, pleaded guilty in March and will be sentenced August 20, 2025. Another co-defendant, German Francisco Diaz, also known as “Trulio,” 41, remains a fugitive.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Network Team, which includes local law enforcement agencies in the Charleston area.
