OMAHA, Neb. -- A man living in Omaha has been sentenced for his role in a Mexican-based meth ring.

U.S. Attorney Steven Russell announced Wednesday that 31-year-old Oswaldo Neri, a Mexican citizen residing in Omaha, was sentenced to over 24 years in prison. He received 290 months for each of the three charges he faced. U.S. District Judge Brian C. Buescher said Neri would serve the terms concurrently. 

Court documents state that Neri conspired with his brother, Jesse Neri, of Omaha, and others to distribute methamphetamine in Omaha in early 2021.

On January 4 and 5 of 2021, a DEA undercover agent posing as a customer contacted a known Mexico-based methamphetamine supplier to order for purchase 1 pound of methamphetamine. The agent and the Mexican source of supply agreed that a local party would meet the customer at a business in Omaha to complete the sale and agreed that the customer would pay $4,100 for the pound.

As planned, they met and completed the transaction. Investigators thereafter identified the Neri brothers as the persons who met with the undercover officer and delivered the methamphetamine.

A week later, on January 12, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant at the Neri brothers’ residence in Omaha. Both brothers were arrested, and investigators recovered 6 additional pounds of methamphetamine from Oswaldo Neri’s bedroom closet, as well as additional evidence of distribution.

A jury trial of the brothers began in February 8, 2022. Jesse Neri pleaded guilty on the morning trial was to begin, leaving Oswaldo Neri as the sole defendant at trial. On February 10, 2022, a federal jury in the District of Nebraska found Oswaldo Neri guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. On August 25, 2022, Jesse Neri was sentenced to 17 and a half years in prison.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Omaha Field Division, and the Nebraska State Patrol. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Chemistry Unit provide laboratory services for the investigation.