Nebraska Man Sentenced to More Than 15 Years for Methamphetamine Charge

United States Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced that Leonel DeLeon, 64, of Wahoo, Nebraska, was sentenced on July 10, 2026, in federal court in Omaha for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Chief United States District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced DeLeon to 188 months' imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After DeLeon's release from prison, he will serve a 10-year term of supervised release.

DeLeon was charged as a result of his involvement with a Mexico source of supply of methamphetamine who supplies the Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, areas with methamphetamine via a local network of drug couriers. Between February 8, 2024, and June 21, 2024, law enforcement utilized cooperating witnesses who contacted the Mexican source and ordered quantities of methamphetamine. On May 29, 2024, after an order was placed with the source, Deleon delivered more than 50 grams of methamphetamine to a cooperating witness at an Omaha location. The investigation revealed that on four other occasions Deleon delivered additional quantities of methamphetamine to cooperators at Omaha locations.

On July 2, 2024, law enforcement executed a search warrant on Deleon's Omaha apartment and seized 60 grams of methamphetamine and a firearm.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Omaha comprises agents and officers from HSI, FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, USPIS, the IRS-Criminal Investigation Division, and assistance of the Douglas County Sheriff's Office with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Nebraska.