SHERMAN, Texas — A 32-year-old Venezuelan national, illegally present in the United States, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine after law enforcement discovered 100 kilograms of the drug in his vehicle during a traffic stop in Grayson County, U.S. Attorney Jay R. Combs announced.

Anthony Juber Viloria Colina pleaded guilty and was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant. According to information presented in court, Colina was stopped for a traffic violation in Grayson County on Jan. 22, 2025. After consenting to a search of his vehicle and opening the trunk, Colina fled on foot. Law enforcement found 100 individually wrapped bricks of methamphetamine in the trunk, totaling approximately 100 kilograms.

The case was brought as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that, in the DOJ’s description, “marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.” The FBI and the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Erlandson.

The sentencing is one of three federal criminal cases resolved in Texas courts the same day, each illustrating distinct enforcement priorities across the state’s federal districts.

In Laredo, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo sentenced Robert Steven Lanier, 41, to 151 months in federal prison for coercion and enticement of a minor. Lanier pleaded guilty March 6. The court noted that Lanier had expressed a proclivity for children and left his home twice — while caring for his own minor children — to go engage in sexual acts with someone he believed to be a 12-year-old child.

Authorities identified Lanier in 2025 while investigating a Kik chatroom, a messaging app the DOJ said “is often exploited by predators to get access to children.” In conversations with someone he believed to be the father of a 12-year-old girl, Lanier said he preferred children under the age of 16, considered child pornography to be “window shopping,” and wanted to be the child’s “sugar daddy.” He described the sexual acts he intended to commit and arrived at a gas station on March 18 to meet the child. Law enforcement arrested him on arrival.

Judge Marmolejo ordered Lanier to serve 15 years on supervised release after completing his prison term, during which he must comply with restrictions on his access to children and the internet. He will also be required to register as a sex offender. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Makens as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide DOJ initiative launched in May 2006 to combat child sexual exploitation.

Separately in Corpus Christi, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced Melvin Jones, 27, of Houston, to two years in federal prison — consecutive to his existing sentence — for forcibly assaulting a federal correctional officer. Jones pleaded guilty April 16. He will also serve two years of supervised release.

Jones was an inmate at Three Rivers Federal Correctional Institution in 2025 when, on Sept. 25, 2025, a correctional officer attempted to search him on suspicion he possessed a contraband cell phone. Jones resisted and repeatedly punched the officer in the head and neck. Other officers intervened and restrained him. The victim sustained abrasions and soreness to his head and neck.

At sentencing, the court heard evidence that Jones had been involved in three additional altercations with other inmates since entering his guilty plea. The FBI investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Martin and Patrick Overman.

Jones, Lanier, and Colina will all remain in federal custody pending transfer to Bureau of Prisons facilities to be determined.