A Mexican national has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for his role in supplying over 100 pounds of cocaine to drug traffickers in the Cleveland area. Dionicio Galindo-Salinas, 49, received a sentence of 235 months from U.S. District Judge John R. Adams after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine. The sentencing took place on July 28, 2025.
Court records show that Galindo-Salinas had previously been removed from the United States before returning and participating in the drug trafficking operation. Earl King, a co-conspirator from Cleveland, traveled repeatedly between Ohio and Brownsville, Texas—covering more than 1,600 miles each trip—to purchase large quantities of cocaine from Galindo-Salinas at the US-Mexico border. King then shipped the drugs to Cleveland using a UPS-Staples store in Brownsville. Investigators found evidence that these trips began around 2020 and resulted in at least 47 kilograms (over 100 pounds) of cocaine being sent to Ohio during the conspiracy period. Testimony from federal investigators estimated the street value of this amount of cocaine at over $2 million.
“Anyone who thinks they can use Northern Ohio as a marketplace to peddle illegal drugs on behalf of transnational criminal organizations will face consequences,” said U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio. “We are fully committed to protecting the public by aggressively enforcing federal laws to keep our communities safe.”
“ICE HSI will continue to investigate, disrupt and dismantle cross border drug trafficking organizations that seek to poison our communities,” said ICE HSI Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge Jared Murphey. “I’m proud of the agents, prosecutors and law enforcement partners who relentlessly pursued justice in this case in order to safeguard the communities where they live and work.”
Galindo-Salinas is one of four defendants convicted and sentenced as part of this investigation. Earl King was previously sentenced to 15 years after pleading guilty for his involvement; Curtis Anderson received a sentence of 25 years following conviction at trial for obtaining and reselling cocaine; Donnell Gochett was sentenced to just over eight years after admitting he provided addresses for shipping parcels containing drugs.
The investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations with support from both the DEA Cleveland Field Office and Cleveland Division of Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys James P. Lewis and Yasmine Makridis prosecuted the case for the Northern District of Ohio.
