Luis Molina, 33, of Glenvil, Nebraska, was sentenced on October 22, 2026, in federal court in Lincoln to 72 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, U.S. Attorney Lesley A. Woods announced. U.S. District Judge Susan M. Bazis imposed the sentence. There is no parole in the federal system, and Molina will serve a five-year term of supervised release after prison.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Molina drove from Nebraska to Chicago on June 9, 2025, with co-defendants Kenneth Palenzuela, Chanda Schroyer and another individual in Schroyer's vehicle. In Chicago, Molina met an individual and picked up a kilogram of cocaine for the drive back.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

On June 10, 2025, after the group re-entered Nebraska, a State Patrol trooper stopped the vehicle for speeding, with Molina driving. The trooper smelled marijuana and searched the vehicle, finding a black backpack under the back seat containing a cellophane bundle that the state crime laboratory later confirmed held over one kilogram of cocaine. A drug ledger was also found in the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Palenzuela pleaded guilty on July 8, 2026, to possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and was sentenced on October 15, 2026, to 24 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release, the Justice Department said. KSNB Local 4 in Nebraska also reported Molina's six-year sentence.

Source: KSNB Local 4

The case is the latest federal sentencing to come out of the Chicago-to-Nebraska drug corridor, where troopers on interstate stops have repeatedly intercepted kilogram-quantity loads moving west from Chicago.