Texas men sentenced after posing as DEA agents, plan to steal marijuana from Oregon home

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Two Texas men were sentenced to federal prison on Thursday for their role in a conspiracy to disguise themselves as Drug Enforcement Administration agents and steal marijuana from a Southern Oregon home in 2022.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon announced 24-year-old Jose Manuel Lopez was sentenced to over five years in federal prison with four years’ supervised release, while 23-year-old Juan Carlos Conchas was sentenced to three years in prison and four years’ supervised release. Both will jointly pay restitution to the victim, authorities said.

According to court documents, on March 12, 2022, Josephine County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a rural address after reports of an armed robbery in progress.

On the scene, deputies found a home with a closed driveway gate and two empty vehicles with Texas license plates in the driveway with their doors open.

Authorities witnessed several people run toward the back of the property and found victims inside the house.

The victims reported that armed people dressed in what appeared to be DEA attire and wearing body armor arrived at the home and used zip ties and duct tape to restrain several of the victims.

While searching the property, authorities found large plastic totes with packaged marijuana in buildings and vehicles, along with body armor, guns, ammunition, shell casings and badges resembling those carried by DEA agents along the path the men used to flee the property.

Later, investigators discovered that in late February 2022, the group of co-conspirators traveled from San Antonio to the Southern Oregon home to steal more than 200 pounds of marijuana. Authorities also found photos of the men posing with guns while disguised as DEA agents.

In September 2022, a federal grand jury in Medford charged Conchas and two 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.

In October 2022, Lopez and Conchas were arrested in San Antonio.

Lopez pleaded guilty in December 2024 to conspiring to interfere with commerce by robbery and conspiring to possess marijuana with the intent to distribute while Conchas pleaded guilty to the same charges in April 2025.

Authorities said four co-conspirators have pleaded guilty and were sentenced on felony charges for their roles in the conspiracy.