LINCOLN, Neb. -- A drug-related conviction in Dawson County is sending a man from Mexico to prison for more than six years.

Acting U.S. Attorney Susan Lehr said 29-year-old Orlando Castro-Gutierrez, of Mexico, was sentenced in federal court in Lincoln on Thursday. He was sentenced for possession with intent to distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl and 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogue. Castro-Gutierrez will serve 76 months in prison with a four-year term of supervised release after. Castro-Gutierrez faces deportation from the United States after the service of his sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

Officials said a Nebraska State Patrol trooper stopped a vehicle driven by co-defendant Alejandro Berrelleza-Bojorquez on Interstate 80 in Dawson County for speeding on March 7, 2022. Castro-Gutierrez was the passenger. The trooper smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle, leading to a search of the vehicle.

Court documents state that law enforcement found 10 triple-wrapped bags under clothing in the trunk and the bags had about 10,000 pills. The trunk also had 15 zip-lock baggies in a paper sack with about 15,000 pills inside. The vehicle was towed, and both men were arrested.

According to authorities, they searched the vehicle again and found a 1 kilogram-sized brick in a box in the trunk. Sample pills from the 10 wrapped bags were tested and was confirmed to contain fentanyl. The pills in the 10 wrapped bags weighed over one kilogram.

Officials said sample pills from the 15 zip-lock baggies were tested and they were made of para-fluorofentanyl, a schedule I substance and analogue of fentanyl. These pills weighed about 1 1/2 kilograms. The brick was also tested and confirmed to have fentanyl in it. 

Berrelleza-Bojorquez was sentenced on April 14, 2023, and received the same sentence.

This case was investigated by the Nebraska State Patrol.