Texas gang member gets 20 years in prison for selling stolen codeine
Daniel Ortiz case photo
DALLAS - A member of the gang Puro Tango Blast has been sentenced to federal prison for drug and firearms charges.
The San Antonio native was convicted of selling drugs he stole from a pharmacy, among other crimes.
Puro Tango Blast member sentenced
What we know:
Daniel Ortiz, 34, was a previously convicted felon when he pleaded guilty to his crimes in February.
Ortiz pleaded to charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, burglary involving controlled substances, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
In the case of the drug charges, Ortiz and his codefendants were found to have distracted law enforcement while they robbed a pharmacy of codeine and other drugs. Ortiz then took the drugs to the DFW Metroplex to try to sell them, the release from the US Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas says.
Daniel Ortiz case photo
Ortiz also pleaded guilty to a car chase incident in which he struck two other cars while fleeing police in a stolen BMW, the release says. When he was arrested, he had a gun on him while previously having been convicted of felonies.
Ortiz is a multi-convicted felon and a Puro Tango Blast (PTB) member. PTB is a violent prison gang made up primarily of Hispanic men from Texas cities.
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Ortiz was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Wednesday.
What we don't know:
Ortiz's codefendants were not mentioned in the release.
The Source: Information in this report comes from the US Attorney's Office, Northern District of Texas.