CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Laredo man with a decades-long history of federal drug convictions has been sentenced to more than 22 years in federal prison for cocaine trafficking.
Pio Alejandro Campos, 53, pleaded guilty Jan. 12 to possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to do so. U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña sentenced Campos to 262 months in federal prison. The court also found Campos had violated the terms of his supervised release from a previous federal drug trafficking conviction and sentenced him to an additional 12 months to be served consecutively, bringing his total sentence to 274 months. That term will be immediately followed by 8 years of supervised release. The court also assessed a $14,000 money judgment.
Judge Saldaña noted at sentencing that Campos had engaged in a continuing pattern of criminal activity dating back to 2008, which included federal convictions involving cocaine or heroin in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Northern District of Illinois and Southern District of Ohio, for which he was ordered to serve approximately 250 total months in prison. In each case, he committed a new crime while on supervised release.
After his most recent federal conviction, Campos was granted executive clemency in December 2024. He was on supervised release for that crime when he committed this cocaine trafficking offense in the Southern District of Texas.
In August 2024, while at a halfway house completing his sentence for heroin trafficking, Campos engaged in a series of cell phone and WhatsApp communications involving the potential sale of cocaine. During the course of an undercover operation, he sought to meet in person to discuss specifics rather than communicating by phone.
Following his release from custody after his clemency approval, Campos continued to maintain communications, agreed to supply cocaine and discussed pricing based on delivery location, which included San Antonio, Houston and New Orleans, Louisiana. On May 3, 2025, he delivered 1 kilogram of cocaine in San Antonio for $14,000.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Lou Castillo prosecuted the case. Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck made the announcement.
Campos will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
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