Cold Spring Man Sentenced for Possessing Methamphetamine and Being an Illegal Alien with a Firearm

MINNEAPOLIS—Yesterday in federal court in Duluth, a 37-year-old Cold Spring man was sentenced for possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it and for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. On April 30, 2013, United States District Court Chief Judge Michael J. Davis sentenced Tomas Hermosillo Marquez to 120 months in federal prison on one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. Marquez was indicted on October 15, 2012, and pleaded guilty on December 13, 2012.

In his plea agreement, Marquez acknowledged that on September 21, 2012, police officers found several packages of methamphetamine, totaling approximately 900 grams, in his trailer house in Cold Spring, Minnesota. The discovery was made while the officers were executing an early morning state search warrant. The police also found a .22-caliber revolver, ammunition, a digital scale, packaging materials, and $4,615 in cash. In addition, the police recovered MSM and inositol, common cutting agents for methamphetamine. Marquez subsequently acknowledged that he had intended to distribute the methamphetamine to another person; that he possessed the gun in connection to his drug trafficking activities; and that he was an illegal alien.

This case was the result of an investigation by the Central Minnesota Violent Offender Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas M. Hollenhorst. To learn more about the harmful effects of methamphetamine, visit http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/meth.html.