McALLEN, TX (TIP): Nineteen men and women, including a South Texas lawyer and his father, have been sentenced for participating in a drug trafficking ring involving 13½ tons of marijuana.

Lawyer Jose Luis Palacios Jr. of Mission drew a 12-year prison sentence, while U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Jose Luis Palacios Sr. of Edinburg to a 5-year prison term.

All 19 were sentenced for their parts in smuggling marijuana from Mexico into the United States near the Rio Grande Valley border town of La Casita, 30 miles west of McAllen. Court documents show they smuggled about 13½ tons of marijuana into the country last spring.