Court Sentences Texas Man to 172 Months Imprisonment in Interstate Methamphetamine Trafficking Conspiracy

MOBILE, AL - On November 13, 2024, United States District Court Judge Callie V. S. Grande sentenced Christopher Perales to 172 months imprisonment for his role in a multi-defendant interstate drug trafficking conspiracy.

Documents filed with the court established that Christopher Perales, operating from the state of Texas, would regularly supply David Eric Crumpton in Mobile, Alabama, with pound quantities of methamphetamine starting in approximately 2019. During the conspiracy Perales and Crumpton opened a joint checking account at a bank in Texas in order for Crumpton to be able to pay Perales for the methamphetamine. From July 27, 2020, through December 7, 2020, Crumpton made deposits of $125,000 into the joint account for the methamphetamine he purchased from Perales.

Perales hired the co-defendant, Daniel Castillo-Garcia, to serve as a drug courier/driver who would transport the methamphetamine from Texas to Lafayette, Louisiana for Perales. Once in Lafayette, Castillo-Garcia would meet the co-defendant David Willis Hale, who had been hired by Crumpton and Heather Boone, to transport the methamphetamine back to Mobile for them.

There were multiple seizure of pound quantities of methamphetamine in Alabama and Mississippi from the various co-conspirators during the investigation. Co-conspirators, Julia Alesia Roberts, Crumpton, Castillo-Garcia and Hale have all pled guilty and were previously sentenced by the court. Boone is pending sentencing.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Mobile Police Department, Narcotics Unit, the Harrison and Hancock County, Mississippi, Sherriff's Offices and the Galveston County Texas Sheriff's Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney George F. May.