A former Chula Vista high school student will be sentenced Oct. 9 on a charge of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and attempt to bring in two undocumented aliens into the U.S. for financial gain.
Phillip Junior Webb, 18, used to attend Castle Park High School in Chula Vista when he was arrested in May on felony conspiracy charges of recruiting other students at Castle Park High to smuggle drugs from Mexico into the U.S. At the time of arrest, he was attending the MAAC High School in Chula Vista.
The charges he admitted to involve conspiracy to distribute meth from July 2017 to November 2017, according to federal court documents. He faces a maximum life sentence in federal prison. One court document says one charge carries a 10-year minimum mandatory term.
U.S. District Court Judge Michael Anello set sentencing for Oct. 9. Webb agreed to stipulate to no bail without having a detention hearing, and he remains in federal custody.
The other charge he admitted to involves the attempted smuggling of a Chinese national and a Mexican national into the U.S. on May 4 for financial gain. Webb was driving his girlfriend’s Nissan Maxima, which was registered in Chula Vista.
Court documents list incidents in which juveniles attempted to smuggle meth in packages while going through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry as pedestrians. A juvenile told agents he would be paid $400 to transport meth and he had frequently crossed into the U.S. with Webb.
On Sept. 19, 2017, two juveniles attempted to smuggle packages of meth that were strapped to the thighs of both students from Castle Park High, according to court documents. Webb offered to pay them $500 each, they said to federal agents. One juvenile was caught with 2.65 pounds of fentanyl strapped to his lower back on Oct. 23, 2017, at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. That student received instructions from someone named Anthony on Facebook, he said.
The cases of the juveniles could not be tracked because they were minors and not public record.
