It took a jury about half an hour Wednesday to reach a guilty verdict against Eladio Valadez in the 105th District Court in Kingsville.The 51-year-old Alice man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to smuggle 182 pounds of marijuana across the Sarita checkpoint.Valadez was facing a second-degree felony charge of possession of marijuana, but a prior drug conviction elevated the charge to a first-degree felony, said District Attorney John Hubert.Visiting Judge Federico Hinojosa handed down the 20-year prison sentence. Valadez faced as long as life in prison.Hubert said Border Patrol stopped Valadez at the Sarita Checkpoint on April 6 and found the marijuana hidden amongst boxes of fruit. According to testimony, Valadez was a professional drug smuggler who had smuggled marijuana past the checkpoint before and brought it into Corpus Christi.
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