LAS VEGAS, NV—A local man who possessed over two kilos of methamphetamine in his car and another 4½ kilos of methamphetamine in a rented storage locker in Las Vegas, has been sentenced to 121 months in prison and five years of supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden for the District of Nevada.

John Ortega, 25, of Las Vegas, was sentenced on Tuesday, Nov. 25, by Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro. Ortega pleaded guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of money laundering.

According to the court records, law enforcement investigators learned in early 2013 that Ortega was supplying kilo quantities of methamphetamine to co-defendant Keith Alcos, of Honolulu, Hawaii. In August 2013, investigators obtained information that on Aug. 21, Alcos and two other co-defendants, James Richardson, Jr., and George Flores, were traveling from Honolulu to Las Vegas to obtain methamphetamine. Investigators conducted surveillance of the defendants when they arrived in Las Vegas, and detected phone calls between the co-defendants and Ortega. On Aug. 25, they followed Ortega from his residence to a storage facility, where Ortega entered a storage unit and left with a black bag. Investigators conducted a traffic stop on Ortega’s vehicle and during a search of the vehicle, recovered approximately two kilos of methamphetamine from a compartment. A later search of the storage unit resulted in the recovery of approximately 4½ kilos of liquid methamphetamine, $13,000, and a 9 mm handgun with an obliterated serial number. Investigators determined that Ortega rented the storage locker using a fake Mexican driver’s license bearing his photograph but the name of Jose Veltran Perez.

Keith Alcos pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8, 2015. Richardson, Jr. and Flores are fugitives.

This case was investigated by the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, DEA, and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber M. Craig.