A cash seizure of over $630,000 was part of the years-long investigation, according to federal authorities. (Photo courtesy of DEA).
MISSOURI – A father-son drug-trafficking duo was sentenced to prison Wednesday for bringing kilograms of cocaine to St. Louis for years, officials said.
The 53-year-old father, Gregory Dixson Jr., was given a 15-year sentence while the son, Gregory Cornell Dixson III, 33, was imprisoned for a decade plus one month. The dad will also be on supervised release for a decade after his prison term expires.
The Dixsons started conspiring with others at least nine years ago to bring cocaine into St. Louis. The son said he and others transported at least 450 kilograms during that time while the father said the amount was up to 150 kilos.
DEA agents said the father and son used couriers to buy kilo-amounts of cocaine in Texas “from Miguel Angel Gonzalez, who bought it from Carlos Gonzalez.” The son was buying up to 16 kilos a week at one point, according to a DEA news release.
Law enforcement seized cocaine and cash during the investigation, including 31 kilos from Omar Pena Vargas hidden in a vehicle, the release added. Officers also found Gonzalez in a hotel room with two bags containing over $630,000 in cash, which was a “partial payment” for 75 kilos being purchased by the younger Dixson, the release noted.
The investigation dated back about eight years and consisted of several other drug and money seizures, according to agents, including eight kilos of cocaine in St. Louis in 2018; 23 pounds of heroin/fentanyl mix seized from Ruben Sanchez Blanco in 2020; and over $160,000 hidden inside a vehicle driven by Quintin Deforest Adkins in 2021, who “drove to Texas to buy six kilograms of cocaine.”
The father and son pleaded guilty to cocaine conspiracy, and Vargas is currently imprisoned federally.
Miguel Gonzalez, 59, faces his sentencing next month, and Adkins, 63, was sent to prison a few months ago for over seven years.
Blanco, 46, of El Paso, Texas, was sent to prison last summer for five years, and Carlos Gonzalez died.
The case was investigated by the DEA, the FBI and the IRS Criminal Investigation unit.
