Another man pleads guilty and faces 40 years in prison; March 2022 incident involved attempt to steal over 200 pounds of marijuana in Josephine County

Two San Antonio, Texas, men were sentenced to federal prison and another San Antonio man pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Medford for conspiring to travel from Texas to Southern Oregon to commit an armed robbery while disguised as agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, officials said.

Nevin Cuevas Morales, 23, was sentenced to 135 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release, and Michael Rey Acuna, 23, was sentenced to 64 months in federal prison and four years’ supervised release. The sum of restitution they each must pay to victims will be determined at a later date, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Juan Carlos Conchas, 23, pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery and conspiring to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute. Conchas faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and four years of supervised release. He will be sentenced July 17 before U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai.

According to court documents, on March 12, 2022, deputies from the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office responded to a rural address in Josephine County after receiving reports of an armed robbery in progress. The deputies found a residence with a closed driveway gate and two empty vehicles with Texas license plates in the driveway with their doors open. Deputies saw several people running toward the back of the property and found victims inside the house. The victims reported that armed individuals dressed in what appeared to be DEA attire and wearing body armor arrived at the property and used zip ties and duct tape to restrain several of them.

The deputies searched the property and found large plastic totes containing packaged marijuana in the buildings and vehicles, court records show. They also found body armor, firearms, ammunition, shell casings, and badges that resembled those carried by DEA agents along the path that Morales, Acuna, Conchas and others used to flee the property.

Investigators learned that in late February 2022, the group traveled from San Antonio to Southern Oregon to steal over 200 pounds of marijuana and recovered photographs taken by the group in which they posed with firearms while dressed as DEA agents.

On Oct.6, 2022, Morales and Acuna were located and arrested in San Antonio. One week later, on Oct. 13, 2022, Conchas was also arrested in San Antonio.

On Sept.1, 2022, a federal grand jury in Medford returned a three-count indictment charging Morales, Acuna, Conchas and co-conspirators with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

On Feb. 2, 2024, Morales pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

On Nov. 6, 2024, Acuna pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery and conspiring to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute.

In addition, three co-conspirators have pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from their roles in the conspiracy. Two have been sentenced to federal prison and the third is awaiting sentencing.

This case was investigated by the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety. It is being prosecuted by Judith R. Harper, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon.