Guadalupe Rodriguez, III Sentenced in U.S. District Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 03, 2012 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on October 3, 2012, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, Guadalupe Rodriguez, III, a 24-year-old resident of Hardin, appeared for sentencing. Rodriguez was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 78 months
- Special assessment: $100
- Supervised release: three years
Rodriguez was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
In an offer of proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
During an investigation into methamphetamine trafficking on the Crow Indian Reservation and in the Hardin area, Rodriguez was identified by law enforcement as a distributor of methamphetamine.
Approximately 20 individuals were interviewed during the investigation. One individual admitted purchasing $30 quantities of methamphetamine five or six times during the year and a half period that he/she knew Rodriguez. Another individual was present approximately 10 times when Rodriguez fronted a third individual 1/4 to 1/2 ounce quantities of methamphetamine to sell.
Another individual identified Rodriguez’s source of supply as an individual in Lodge Grass and stated that Rodriguez would obtain an 8-ball or two 8-balls of methamphetamine from that source every day. Another individual admitted purchasing 24 grams of methamphetamine from Rodriguez during an eight-month period. Rodriguez was identified as part of a group of individuals distributing methamphetamine on the Crow Indian Reservation and in the Hardin area.
During the investigation, Rodriguez was interviewed. Rodriguez admitted that he first obtained methamphetamine from an individual who pleaded guilty to a drug trafficking crime in January 2010. Soon thereafter, Rodriguez moved into that individual’s house. Rodriguez labeled himself more of a user of methamphetamine than a distributor, but Rodriguez did admit that he started selling methamphetamine on the Crow Indian Reservation and in the Hardin area soon after January 2010. He estimated that he sold bindles of methamphetamine every two or three days for $25 to $50 a piece. The individual he lived with would front the methamphetamine to him, and then he would sell the methamphetamine and pay a “pre-established amount.” Rodriguez estimated that he sold $200 to $300 worth of methamphetamine per week for two months. He claimed that he made a little over $1,000 from the sale of methamphetamine during the two-month period.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the “truth in sentencing” guidelines mandate that Rodriguez will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, Rodriguez does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for “good behavior.” However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overall sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.