Abel Ayala-Garcia, 31, of Columbus Ayala-Garcia was booked into Bartholomew County Jail on April 28 and released to an undisclosed federal agency the same day. He faces federal charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. The conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine charge carries a potential sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine. The conspiracy to launder monetary instruments carries a potential sentence of 0 to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
INDIANAPOLIS — A former Columbus resident who authorities say had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel has made his initial appearance on an additional charge related to his alleged role in a drug ring that transported methamphetamine and other substances from the U.S.-Mexico border to several areas of central and southern Indiana, including Bartholomew County.
Former Columbus resident Abel Ayala-Garcia made his initial appearance in-person this week in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis after an updated indictment charged him with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, which carries a potential sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
Ayala-Garcia was already facing one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. The conspiracy to possess charge carries a possible sentence of 10 years to life in prison, while the conspiracy to launder monetary instruments carries a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
Ayala-Garcia waived his formal arraignment and reading of the indictment on the record, according to court records. He had previously waived his right to a detention hearing and was ordered detained and remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service pending further proceedings.
Ayala-Garcia has been held at Oldham County Jail in La Grange, Ky., according to court records.
The new charges are the latest twist in a criminal stemming from an investigation launched by the Drug Enforcement Administration in 2021. Over the course of the investigation, federal agents received authorization to intercept and monitor communications on nine cellphones, including two phones belonging to a former Columbus resident.
The investigation resulted in the arrest of over a dozen people — including several former residents of Bartholomew and Jackson counties — who authorities say were part of a drug trafficking network that used a number of couriers and mailing companies to transport methamphetamine and other substances from the U.S.-Mexico border to several areas of central and southern Indiana, including Bartholomew and Jackson counties.
Drug Enforcement Administration officials told The Republic in 2022 that the members of the drug trafficking ring were “some of the biggest suppliers” of drugs in Bartholomew and Jackson counties — including methamphetamine and fentanyl — and had ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, which experts say controls a wholesale distribution network in the U.S. and elsewhere to get drugs into the hands of local street dealers.
Of the five former local residents who were arrested and charged for their roles in the alleged conspiracy, only Ayala-Garcia and former Columbus resident Erlin Lucero-Asencio have refused to plead guilty.
Co-defendants Claudio Garcia-Morales of Columbus, Victor Vazquez-Hernandez of Seymour and Allison Perdue of Seymour have pleaded guilty or have agreed to plead guilty.
Garcia-Morales was sentenced to 10 years, seven months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Vazquez-Hernandez was sentenced to 10 years, seven months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
Perdue is scheduled to be sentenced July 9.
Lucero-Asencio and Ayala-Garcia, for their part, are scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 26 after declining to accept plea agreements.
