ROGERS MAN SENTENCED TO 18 YEARS FOR CONSPIRACY TO DISTRIBUTE METHAMPHETAMINE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 16, 2012 |
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Fayetteville- Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Jose Antonio Ramirez-Mendoza of Rogers, Arkansas, was sentenced today in federal court. Ramirez-Mendoza was convicted for conspiring with another individual to distribute methamphetamine. According to court documents, on May 11, 2011, law enforcement officers with the Rogers Police Department initiated a traffic stop with a white GMC Yukon. Officers used a K-9 to conduct an exterior sniff of the vehicle and the K-9 alerted to the presence of a controlled substance. Upon searching the vehicle, officers located a coffee can containing methamphetamine. Ramirez-Mendoza, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was taken into police custody. Court documents indicate that Ramirez-Mendoza, along with his co-conspirator, distributed over 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine over the course of the conspiracy.
Ramirez-Mendoza was indicted on May 25, 2011. According to the indictment, Ramirez-Mendoza and another individual conspired to distribute methamphetamine, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. ยงยง 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)(viii) and 846. Ramirez-Mendoza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine on September 12, 2011. During sentencing, United States District Court Judge Jimm Larry Hendren sentenced Ramirez- Mendoza to 216 months imprisonment, $100,000 in fines and five years supervised release upon his release from prison.
This case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Rogers Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Clay Fowlkes prosecuted this case for the United States.
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